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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



I 



THE CHILDREN'S CHALLENGE TO 
THE CHURCH 



Th. 



Children's Challenge to 
the Church 



A Study in Religious Nurture for Rectors 
and Teachers 



BY 



REV. WILLIAM E. GARDNER 

General Secretary of the General Board of Religious Education of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church 



PREPARED FOR 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL COMMISSION 

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK 



Civilization and relision center about the Child'' 
—Dr Luther H. Gulick 




MILWAUKEE 

The Young Churchman Company 

1913 






COPYRIGHT BY 

THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN CO. 
1913 



^J^-Ti 



0CU854586 






PREFACE 

There are two parts to this book. The first part 
is a challenge to the clergy and Sunday School teach- 
ers, who under the guidance of the Holy Spirit have 
the future of the Church in their hands. 

The Christian Nurture Course which forms the 
second part, is not another "system of lessons." It is 
the accumulated results of the experiments, discus- 
sions, and correspondence of many rectors, who, years 
ago, became dissatisfied with the conception of the 
Sunday School as a place where lessons only are taught. 
These men sought for the nurturing powers of the 
Church, confident that when found they would give 
joy to the child. They were rewarded. By the Chris- 
tian Nurture Course the Sunday School has become to 
many rectors and teachers the Church organization, 
giving the highest joys in service. 

The Christian Nurture Course seeks to show meth- 
ods by which the Standard Curriculum may be applied. 
While in the main, the Course follows the Standard 
Curriculum of the General Board of Religious Edu- 
cation, it departs in some detail. The improvement 
of the Standard Curriculum can only be brought about 
by a careful testing of its recommendations and an 
experimentation which will lead to its improvement. 

In parishes where the adoption of this Course is 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

contemplated, every teacher should be provided with 
a copy of this book, and after careful reading the 
material should be discussed and plans made according 
to the directions given in "Requisites for Success," 
page 19. 

If this book can become the basis for a better 
understanding between rectors, teachers, parents, and 
scholars, it will accomplish the supreme end for which 
it has been prepared. 

The writer is indebted to a host of Sunday School 
teachers throughout the Church, who by correspond- 
ence and in conferences have given him suggestions 
and helps. He is particularly indebted to the Rev. 
Chas. H. Boynton, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Peda- 
gogy in the General Theological Seminary, for many 
valuable suggestions; and to Rev. Carlton P. Mills, 
Educational Secretary of the Diocese of Massachusetts, 
Rev. Malcolm Taylor, Rector of St. Thomas' Church, 
Taunton, Mass., Rev. Phillips E. Osgood, Rector of 
the Church of Our Saviour, Roslindale, Mass., Rev. 
Herman Page, D.D., Rector of St. Paul's Church, 
Chicago, 111., Rev. Chas. H. Young, Rector of Christ 
Church, Chicago, Rev. Llewellyn N. Caley, Rector of 
St. Jude and Nativity, Philadelphia, Very Rev. Chas. 
S. Lewis, Dean of All Saints' Cathedral, Indianapolis, 
Ind., Rev. Wm. W. Smith, M.D., Secretary of the New 
York Sunday School Commission, Rev. Lester Brad- 
ner, Ph.D., Chairman of the Teacher Training Com- 
mittee, and many others who have made contributions 
to the experiment which has been known as "The 
Christian Nurture Course." 



VI 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PART I. 

PAGE 

The Children's Challenge to the Church ... 1 



PART II. 
THE CHRISTIAN NURTURE COURSE. 

Chapter I. — Requisites for Success .... 19 

Introduction 19 

The Five Interests of the Teacher . 20 

Teachers' Meetings 21 

Department Heads 22 

Examinations, Promotions, Certifi- 
cates, Graduations 23 

Class Treasury System .... 25 

Home Work and Note Books . . 27 

Pictures, Text Books, Maps, etc. . 28 

Chapter II. — The Religious Xurture of Child- 
hood. (From the first through 

the ninth year) 32 

The Church and the Infant . . 32 

Lesson Material 34 

:Memory Work 38 

Church Knowledge 44 

Devotional Life 50 

Christian Service 54 

vii 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

PAGE 

Chipteb III. — The Religious Nurtuee of Boyhood 
AND Girlhood (About the tenth 

and eleventh years) .... 61 

Lesson Material 62 

Memory Work 66 

Church Knowledge 69 

Devotional Life 71 

Christian Service 73 

Chapter IV. — Jesus Christ, the Hero and Saviour. 

(About the twelfth year) . . 77 

Lesson Material 78 

Memory Work 79 

Church Knowledge 80 

Devotional Life 81 

Christian Service 83 

Chapter V. — The Church Knighting the Child. 
(About the thirteenth and four- 
teenth years) 85 

Lesson Material 86 

Memory Work 90 

Church Knowledge 92 

Devotional Life 93 

Christian Service 97 

Chapter VI. — With the Church to the World 

Quest. (The Seniors) . . . 101 

Lesson Material 105 

Memory Work 107 

Church Knowledge 108 

Devotional Life 109 

Christian Service Ill 

Chapter VII. — Conclusion 114 

PART III. 

Appendix A. — Recommendations of the Diocese of 

Connecticut 119 

Appendix B. — Recommendations of the Educa- 
tional Editor of the Living 

Church 125 

Appendix C. — Training Children to Serve . . . 129 

viii 



PART I. 
The Children's Challenge to the Church 

"Religious experience is seeing more and more in our 
Lord's definition of greatness in the kingdom of heaven, 
when by a living parable He set a little child in the midst 
of His disciples. It is difficult to keep from thinking that 
this implies that at the heart of the universe there is the 
spirit of eternal childlikeness." — Slattery, The Authority 
of Religious Experience, page 278. 

". . . the Christian Faith demands a mental habit 
diff'erent from that now popular ... its sincere profession 
sets us free . . . and permits us to look at God's universe 
with the eyes of . . . the child." — Figgis, Civilization at 
the Cross Roads, page 172. 

"in the childlikeness of God, religious experience has dis- 
covered what we may term a necessary idea, which theology 
may some day develop into a stately doctrine." — Slatteey, 
The Authority of Religious Experience, page 280. 



THE CHILDREN'S CHALLENGE 
TO THE CHURCH 

During the French Kevoliition in one of the demon- 
strations, a company of children paraded with banners 
on which were printed the words, "Tremble, tyrants, 
for we shall grow np." Something of value might 
happen if through the staid and prosaic Diocesan Con- 
ventions and Councils, yes, and even through the Gen- 
eral Convention, children of the Church could be 
marched with banners entitled "Tremble, Church 
fathers, for we shall grow up." Truly the Church 
fathers should tremble when they confront the fact 
of the child life of the Church; tremble because of 
the inadequate way in which the Church is meeting 
the problem ; tremble because of the increasing diminu- 
tion in interest which the child is taking in the Church. 

The child life of the Church of to-day makes four 
distinct challenges to the Church : 

1. Children challenge the Church to hear and heed 
the message of childhood. 

It is the Church's primary duty to hear this chal- 
lenge of the child and to break down the conception 
that the chief value of the child is in the fact that 
some day he will grow up. Too long has the Church 
aimed simply to enfold the child with an encircling 
care; too long has she looked down on the child as 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

something merely to be guided, instructed, and taught. 
In reality some of the divinely ordained teachers of the 
Church's life are among the Church's children. The 
cry of the children to-day is that the Church will 
come and play with them, in order that she may learn 
from their play how to teach them to pray. Kauschen- 
busch, in his Christianity and the Social Crisis, has 
this very illuminating paragraph: 

"A man was walking through the streets of the city, 
pondering the problems of wealth and material well-being. 
He saw a child sitting on the curb-stone crying. He saw 
a young mother with her child, and an old man with his 
grandchild. But it never occurred to him that little chil- 
dren are the foundation of society, a chief motive power 
in economic effort, the most influential teachers, the source 
of the finest pleasures, the embodiment of form, color, and 
grace. The man had never had a child, and his eyes were 
not open. . . . Jesus knew human nature when He 
reiterated, *He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' " 

"Suffer the little children to come," was the Lord's 
method of taking the child's part, and when He took 
them in His arms and blessed them and said, "Of such 
is the Kingdom," He tried to visualize before the 
Church their teaching power; and when He said, "It 
were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged 
about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth 
of the sea," He warned of the results that must come 
when the Church takes a supercilious look-down-upon 
rather than a look-up-to attitude toward the child. 

Just as the child has never had a fair chance 
in the State, so he has never had a fair chance in the 
Church. The past situation has been excusable in the 
State, it has not been excusable in the Church, for 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

had the Incarnation, as revealed by the Master's life, 
been truly comprehended, the childhood of the Church 
would have been estimated at its true value. 

The child challenges the Church to study and know 
childhood, not so much because the child needs ap- 
preciation for his own sake but rather because the 
Church cannot come to a complete knowledge of God 
without that study. Dr. Slattery in "The Authority of 
Religious Experience" warns the pastor that he must 
have the "daring to expect commanding things of God" 
which he alone can turn over to the theologian for 
"testing and experimentation." The Church has yet 
to learn that "commanding things" will be found in 
abundance when the pastor develops the ability for 
careful and intelligent association with the child life 
of his flock. 

The child is calling the Church to establish oppor- 
tunities in her theological seminaries for studying 
the religious message that can be found in childhood. 
Fellowships, lecture courses, and laboratories should 
be founded by the wealth of the Church that she may 
lead in that study, which by force of necessity must 
command the attention and energy of men with clear 
minds and loving hearts. It is in this wonderful lab- 
oratory waiting for the Church that many of the fu- 
ture glories of the ministry of souls are to be dis- 
covered. The day should be hastened by the Church 
when the right to exercise the "cure of souls" will be 
more carefully guarded and more accurately prepared 
for than the right to cure the bodies.* 



* "The expensiveness of laboratories and of trained 
teachers, and the apparent cheapness of piety have led in 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

2. The second challenge is: Childhood challenges 
Churchmen to he spiritual parents, not merely teach- 
ers. 

One of the underlying principles which must gov- 
ern the study of the methods and the material of Re- 
ligious Nurture in the Church, is that the point of 
view from which Churchmen approach the problem of 
Religious Education must be the point of view of the 
parent and not that of the teacher. 

This is hard for us to understand because the only 
educational method which we depend upon is based on a 
teacher. We are creatures of the methods of the 
Public School and the University. The former has 
aimed to prepare its scholars for the University ex- 
amination, and the latter has tended to teach with too 
much emphasis on the search for brilliant scholarship. 
Today there is rather the growing desire to lead the 
scholar into life's experience and to value him in so 
far as he is trained to be courageous, noble, true, 
sympathetic and able to see visions. In this tendency 
the Church should lead. Already in secular education 
there has come the change of emphasis from the in- 
tellectual to the vocational, from making the child a 
scholar to making the child a productive unit in 
society. This is only one step in a great process and 
in this process the Church should strike the real key- 



not a few cases to what amounts to a fraud upon the young. 
This is not too severe a characterization of an institution 
that seeks power over the young, without first qualifying 
itself to exercise that power." — CoE, Education in Religion 
and Morals, page 326. 

6 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

note and place before the world the highest educational 
vision. 

The Church should hear the challenge of the child 
and turn the attention of society to the child, be- 
cause only in and through the child can the world 
learn the one lesson that it needs most of all, the one 
lesson that it hesitates to face, the only lesson in which 
it can find its salvatio7i — the lesson of parenthood. In the 
development of democracy the ideal has been brother- 
hood, but those who have read their New Testament 
and have gone to the basis of the Incarnation, know 
that the ideal of brotherhood is impossible unless it 
is founded upon the ideal of parenthood. If democracy 
has had its era of brotherhood, if public education has 
gone through the process of first accepting an in- 
tellectual ideal and then a vocational ideal, both now 
have their faces toward the higher aim which they have 
hardly dared to formulate and that is the aim of train- 
ing parents. 

Today is the Church's supreme opportunity. Her 
life depends upon her capacity to so present the gospel 
that she will show the world what a father is like, 
and this she cannot do until she sets the children in 
her midst and calls the State and the home, as well 
as the members in her own. body, to face the fact that 
the most important element in life — parenthood — can- 
not be obtained without close and humble contact with 
childhood. 

The Church is to train parents, not only parents 
who base their parenthood on physical relationships, 
but more important and more in accord with her com- 
mission, spiritual parents, who base their parenthood 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

on a spiritual relationship. The child's inalien- 
able right today is to find in every man he meets and 
in every woman he meets, the spirit of fatherhood 
and motherhood. It is this that the Church has 
preserved when she has insistently claimed in her Bap- 
tismal office that there shall be present at the spiritual 
birth of the child not only those who are responsible 
for its physical well-being, but godfathers and god- 
mothers whose relationship to the child is based from 
that moment on spiritual realities. In that precious 
moment in the Baptismal Service the Church has said 
in actions which speak louder than words, that the 
most important element in Religious Education, the 
one that can be neglected only with great peril, is the 
parental element. "Neglected with great peril" we 
have said. Do we mean peril to the child? Not at all, 
we mean peril to the Church. 

In the tendency to escape the responsibilities to 
childhood, is found the greatest menace to Church and 
State. The most precious instincts, those upon which 
the physical and spiritual development of society de- 
pend, are the instincts of parenthood. God has not 
only endowed us with these instincts, but He has also 
endowed us with the capacity to attain the highest 
joys of life in the cultivation of these instincts. So 
when the Church shall give her attention to developing 
the instincts of spiritual parenthood, she will make 
her greatest contribution to the world. She will do 
this only by connecting the adult life of the Church 
very closely to the child life, for only in that fellowship 
can there be developed the spiritual life of the Church 
that will become the saving power in the world. 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

3. Thus childhood makes its third challenge to 
the Church: 

It calls upon her to stop approving of childhood 
from a distance and hy cooperation to lead childhood 
into the joy of making choices and sacrifices for the 
Kingdom of God. 

A situation in which there are many dangers is that 
which resides in those circumstances where Church 
people spell cooperation a-p-p-r-o-v-a-1. It is pathetic 
to hold conferences of clergy, parents and Sunday 
School teachers today and hear them politely and often 
enthusiastically approve of what has been said, but not 
have them raise a hand to help. This unfortunate 
course is not so much due to a bad will as it is due 
to a sense of incompetency which reigns in the minds 
of people today as they face child life. Separation 
from the child, lack of an effort to comprehend the 
child, have become so wide spread that the call to a 
parish to give up certain things in order that its 
child life may make its real contribution to the parish, 
is beyond the comprehension of those to whom the call 
is made. 

Along with the incomplete idea of cooperation, is 
another idea that has grave dangers. There is prev- 
alent the thought that Eeligious Education is some- 
thing that can be carried on apart from the Church. 
The life of society today needs leaders who will boldly 
stand up and in the educational propaganda put the 
emphasis on the Church. There can never be complete 
and adequate Religious Education outside of the 
Church. Men and women may do the best 
that religious pedagogy may direct, they may ful- 

9 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

fil all the obligations of the home and of 
the State, mothers and fathers may be ideal in 
the examples set of prayer and helpfulness and self- 
sacrifice, but in the end all state training and all home 
training will be inadequate if separated from the train- 
ing that must emanate from those dominating influ- 
ences which can only come with saving power from an 
authorized religious organization. Just as no home 
can be a real home unless it finds its life in the State 
and in the Church, so there can be no proper develop- 
ment of the parental instincts unless they find their 
development in Church and State parents. 

When Churclnnen ^vill see that cooperation in Re- 
ligious Nurture means sacrifice and when they will see 
that that sacrifice must be made in conjunction with 
a clearly defined Church life, they will be led to under- 
stand this third challenge of the child. 

Our child life today is not asking to be trained 
for something by and by, it is continually looking up 
into the faces of those who should be parents and is 
asking to be admitted into their life and have a share 
now in winning the world for Christ, 

We believe that the Kingdom is brought by deliber- 
ate choices, and personal sacrifices in order that those 
choices may be obtained. Then the most important ele- 
ment in Religious Nurture is the training of the power 
to choose and the power to sacrifice. This like any 
other capacity of human life, does not spring into ex- 
istence full blown as the result of studied convictions, 
it is rather the result of a process in life the develop- 
ment of which must begin in childhood. The weakness 
of men and women in the Church today is not pri- 

10 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

marily due to the lack of conviction; there is con- 
viction enough in the world to save the world, if only- 
men and women had been trained to live up to their 
convictions. If years ago the Church had given its 
emphasis in its educational methods to exercising the 
ability to make choices and the ability to sacrifice, 
there would be more choosing according to convictions 
and more willingness to sacrifice in accordance with 
choices. 

Those who are close to child life know that its 
greatest joys grow out of the exercise of its powers of 
choice, and its progress in development is in ratio to 
the joy that it discovers in sacrificing. 

To take a concrete illustration: The children would 
be in the Church today if there was more reality in 
worship and preaching; if worship and preaching were 
the product of an earnest desire for a growing ability 
to make right choices and find joy in sacrifices. Wor- 
ship and preaching today are largely a product of 
custom and habit. The number of people who go to 
Church on a Sunday morning with real spiritual desires 
and with aims as clearly defined in their own minds 
as the aims which dominate them as they go to the 
grocery store or to the tailors is comparatively small. 
The number of sermons that are preached today be- 
cause the preacher is burning with a message for his 
particular congregation is not large. It is in this 
artificiality that the child finds nothing for him. For 
in every sphere of life in which there is a genuine 
attitude on the part of adults, the child finds joy in 
cooperation; he has not learned to be artificial, that 

11 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

comes later, and until then he finds the so-called 
worship of a Sunday morning, irksome. 

We cannot train our boys and girls in making 
choices and in sacrificing for the Kingdom of God, 
until we are doing that ourselves. The child challenges 
the Church not only to stop approving of childhood 
from a distance, but also to more clearly define the cort- 
tent of the religious life and to determine how far 
religious exercises are essential to the individual and 
the social life, and having reached a conclusion, to 
lead him by example in choice making and in the 
making of sacrifices for the bringing in of the King- 
dom. The child is asking the Church to mark out a 
clear path for herself and then to give him the op- 
portunity to cooperate in everything that is real in 
the religious life. 

4. The last challenge here presented is — That the 
Church make religion enjoyable to the child. 

The child challenges the Church to stop taking 
the mystery out of religion, the mystery that is part 
of God's revelation, the mystery of the sun and the 
moon, and the stars and the clouds, and of all of the 
great unanswered and unanswerable questions of hu- 
man life. The joy, the facination that arises from mys- 
tery and even from fears and terrors, have their legiti- 
mate place in the development of the true sense of God. 
Man stands at his highest when he can face the myster- 
ies with joy and for this end the child is constructed, 
and this is what he wants to do, and he has no use for 
the Church that will discredit this natural and valuable 
capacity of his life. 

Today we know that the play instinct has a greater 

12 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

value than merely adjusting the child to his environ- 
ment. Animals may play for the ability to meet the 
conditions of their physical environment, but a child 
does more, he has to meet the eternal and in the un- 
conscious joyful attitude toward life which is given by 
play properly organized there is the training of the 
child for eternal ends. There is "joy in heaven" the 
fullness of which is beyond the comprehension of 
man. There is joy in sacrifice which the Church has 
not learned and which therefore she has not taught. 
The childhood of today challenges the Church to pro- 
duce its joys. Every other agency in life is opening 
its treasures of joy for the child. In the Public 
School, on the athletic field, in the entertainment halls, 
everyr^'here the child's capacity for pleasure is being 
recognized and met. Has the Church no word for 
this situation? Does she lack the ability to give that 
element to the child's life which will make all his 
pleasure and all his joys of the highest calibre? 

The child asks for the joy of cooperation. We have 
already touched this point, but it must be mentioned 
here again. He waits for the pleasure and happiness 
of doing real things with real men and women. He 
waits for the joys that come from the rich experiences 
which rise from the mystical fellowship; he wants to 
pray, he wants to sing, he wants to serve, but he wants 
to do them all with someone whom he admires and who 
is his hero. Can the Church fulfil this desire of the 
child's life and give him the joy of fellowship with 
heroes ? 

The child calls for the joy that comes from having 
time to grow into Christ. He does not ask for instruc- 

13 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

tion, he wants nurture; he does not ask for announce- 
ments of truth, he wants the joy of living the truth 
in order that he may gain his freedom and then recog- 
nize it. He will turn from the task which is set by 
teachers who are more interested in attaining in- 
tellectual ends than leading him into the experiences 
of a religious life. He will not care for a creed because 
of its explanations, but he will find joy and more mean- 
ing than we are ready today to allow, in the creed 
that he says and sings with those whom he admires 
and loves. He asks to become a part of a process in 
order that he may grow and in the process he asks 
for time in order that he may enjoy his growth. 

He asks for the joy that comes from the progressive 
life. He wants the Church to set him tasks which 
call for his best desires for achievement. He can 
estimate the value of the secular program of education 
with its primary, intermediate, high schools and then 
the summit of all, college. Who can estimate the indel- 
ible impression made by the annual call of graduation 
with its flowers, addresses, ribboned diplomas and ap- 
plauding friends ? Quite unconsciously there has been 
built a process which holds before the child more than 
a program, it holds a life in which the fulfillment of 
the best within him depends upon his achievement. 

Can the Church equal this appeal? Can she make 
the process in education appeal to the achieving 
sense of the child, so that he will consciously face in- 
completeness if he does not continue with the Church 
to the end, and more than that, can the Church go be- 
yond secular education, and hold before the child the 
great program of a world conquest for Christ so tliat 

14 



The Children's Challenge io the Church 

tlie higher he climbs in his sense of achievement, the 
more will the vision of possibility attract and hold 
him? Can she make this program so snffused with joy 
that he will enter his world with the sense of a Chris- 
tian knight upon a quest? 

Here are some of the joys that the child is chal- 
lenging the Church to put into its life if she would 
hold the child. 

In response to these challenges is the Church doing 
anything? Indeed she is. Throughout the Church 
the rectors and teachers are praying and training for 
the ability to answer the challenge. The following 
studies of the various methods and material which exist 
in some parishes today, attempt to show how the 
Church hears the challenge, and how she is preparing 
to respond and to so answer the challenge of the child 
that with joy he will join the Church's crusade for the 
bringing in of the Kingdom. 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
in Teachers' Meetings 

1. In what ways is our parish responding to the challenge 

of the child. 

Is it providing the money to support the Sunday 
School, thereby leaving the offerings free to be used 
in training the scholars in stewardship? 

Is it providing pews centrally located for the 
scholars at great festival services, especially when 
the Bishop comes for Confirmation? 

2. How far are the godparents in our parish faithful to 

their responsibilities ? 

Do we know who they are? 

If they are not faithful, do we know why? 

15 



Tlie Children's Challenge to the Church 

3. Does our school aim to teacli more than history and 

doctrine ? 

If so, what and how? 

4. In what way can we as teachers develop our capacity 

for spiritual parenthood? 

5. What can we do to train our scholars in the making 

of choices? 

6. Who in our parish are real students of childhood? 

7. In what way do you believe that a Church Organiza- 

tion is necessary to complete Christian instruction? 

8. Give as many reasons as possible why child life is an 

asset to the Church. 

9. Is there enough sacrifice on the part of officers, teach- 

ers, and parents in our parish to set a stimulating 
example to the children? 
10. Assign to one or more teachers the study of the sub- 
ject of play and its connection with the religious 
life. 



16 



PART II. 
The Christian Nurture Course 

"To teach religion, as Carlyle has said, the first thing 
necessary is to find a man who has religion. For most 
men, their religion is vitalized and sustained by their per- 
sonal relations with other men. It is only when we come 
into contact with men whose lives are guided and controlled 
by the hand of God, and see the power of the faith which 
makes them strong, that we ourselves become sure of God 
and His love. 'Soul is kindled only by soul.' " — Founda- 
tion, page 31. 

"I think all the Churches — all the Nonconformists and 
other Churches — are beginning to see that while it is pos- 
sible to have excellent religious teaching in the provided 
schools, nevertheless the force? behind it all must be the 
organized forces of the Churches. It cannot be the organ- 
ized forces of the rate-payers or of the Department, or of 
the county council. Whatever it may be, it cannot be that. 
It must be the religious force provided by ecclesiastical 
organization. The more tolerant those ecclesiastical or- 
ganizations become, the wider their outlook, the warmer 
their sympathy, the more they hold in common with their 
brethren, the more I rejoice. But the idea that because 
you do not think there is suflficient agreement among the 
Churches you are going to make up a sort of bastard State 
religion, and treat that as if it had behind it the authority 
of an ecclesiastical organization; the more it is considered, 
the more absurd it will seem." — (Quotation from speech 
by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, reprinted in the School 
Ouardian of June 7, 1913.) 

17 



CHAPTER I. 
Requisites for Success 

The aim of these pages is to outline for a better 
understanding between rectors and teachers, the meth- 
ods and material which might 

1. Introduction ^ - ^ ^^ - ^ ^ 

enter into the eighteen years 

when the Church should direct the religious life of 
the child. I do not imply by this that at eighteen the 
Church is through with the child; I imply rather that 
the Church should have so directed the work and the 
life of the child that at the age of eighteen or 
thereabouts, he will begin to be intelligent about self- 
direction and anxious to exercise his capacity for self- 
direction. The old method of Eeligious Education 
tended to announce certain things to children all the 
way along through the course of instruction, with the 
hopes that having given the child the truth, he would 
have the right foundation laid for his manhood. To- 
day we work from the point of view that educa- 
tion is not a process of intellectualism, it is not 
merely a process of conveying or announcing truth, 
but it is life and there is no such thing as an end 
to it this side of the grave. "We are not through 
with the child at eighteen, but we hope that the child 
has so attained certain capacities by the time he is 

19 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

eighteen, that he will find, comprehend and joyfully 
fill his place in the fabric of the Church. 

In outlining the teaching of the eighteen years we 
shall consider the following divisions : 

The period of childhood from 1 to 9. 

The period of boyhood or girlhood, from about 9 to 
11. 

The period of the study of the Saviour's life, about 
12. 

The period when the Church knights the child, 
about 12 to 14. 

The period when the child joins the Church in the 
World Quest, about 15 and on. 

We shall consider the methods and the material of 

all the periods under five heads, which should form 

- _, _. , ^ ^ the five interests of the teacher. 
2. The Five Interests 

. . _ . 1. Lesson Material, by which 

we mean the Bible stories, nature 

stories, etc., which should enter into the instruction of 

each department. 

2. Memory Work: The simple texts, hymns, pray- 
ers, and such parts of the catechism as are applicable 
to each age. 

3. Elements of the Church life which should be pre- 
sented to the child in order that he may more and more 
come to realize that he is a member of the Church and 
that its very stone and mortar belong to him, are his 
very own. 

4. The activities which should develop the devotion- 
al life of the child. 

5. The experiences into which the child should be 

20 



Requisites for Success 

led ill order that he may gain the joys that arise from 

Christian service. 

This course cannot be carried out successfully 

without regular teacher's meetings, in which the teacli- 

_ . ers are encouraged to bring in 

3. Teachers' , . ^^ , ,. 

their dimculties lor discussion 

and liberal time is given for the 
consideration of the same. Teachers should be en- 
couraged to discuss their difficulties with the rector or 
the superintendent before they are brought out publicly 
before the full corps of teachers, for by such prepara- 
tory discussions, the rector or superintendent is able 
to treat the question in such a way as to make its con- 
sideration helpful to the whole body of teachers. 

This course depends upon every teacher's seeing the 
whole task of Christian Nurture; only thereby can he 
see the importance of his particular task and make it 
the consummation of what has preceded and the pre- 
paration for what is to follow. A large amount of 
our Sunday School work today fails because it is not 
related. Each teacher is trying to get through a par- 
ticular lesson on a Sunday and a particular course in 
a certain year. He is frequently faithful in this work, 
but the best result of that faithfulness cannot be at- 
tained because the particular lesson and course is not 
related to a larger whole. Where this course has been 
most successful, the teachers have been required to 
read the material provided for every age and to con- 
sider carefully the connection between the particular 
grade taught and the whole object of the course. 

The author would strongly advise the distribution of 
this book to the teachers of the school and the con- 

21 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

sideration of the material of this Course in successive 
teachers' meetings. In one case this has been done in 
the closing weeks of the school year as preparatory for 
the beginning of new work in the autumn. In the 
autumn, the teachers were called together by depart- 
ments and the material was again considered from a 
more specialized point of view and after the teachers 
had had the summer in which to read and meditate 
upon the methods and material of the Course. 

A well planned and carefully conducted teachers' 
meeting depends upon how far the rector or superin- 
tendent builds up a personal relationship between him- 
self and his teachers. Too many teachers' meetings 
fail because the leader looks upon his teachers as part 
of a machine or "Sunday School system." With this 
attitude of mind, the teachers' meetings become places 
where new rules are established and an effort is made 
to bend the teaching force to a closer keeping of the 
old rules. The personal forces for Christian Nurture 
cannot be guided by rules. They must rather be dom- 
inated by a sense of personal responsibility, personal 
loyalty and the ambition to consider primarily the in- 
dividual welfare and development of the scholars. 

Questions have been placed at the end of the var- 
ious chapters to assist those rectors and teachers who 
desire to discuss this book in a series of conferences. 

EiEciency in the organization in the Sunday School 
depends upon the rector or superintendent dividing 

the responsibility of leadership. 
This can best be done by ap- 
pointing one of the teachers in 
each department (we are thinking now of schools with 

22 



Requisites for Success 

a membership of from one to three hundred) to act as 
a department leader. It will be his duty to see that 
in his department, every teacher is provided with the 
necessary books, pictures, paper, pencils, maps, etc. It 
is also this leader's responsibility to see that each 
teacher is moving forward in his course and really 
attaining the ends as outlined. In a very large school, 
the department heads should be relieved of class teach- 
ing but in a school of ordinary size, it will be found 
best to ask an efficient teacher to lead, inasmuch as 
his very efficiency will cause the rest of the teachers 
to trust and emulate him. 

In larger schools it will be found advisable to have 
a leader for each grade of the school, thereby pro- 
viding one person in the school who because of actual 
experience in a particular course, is peculiarly equipped 
to instruct new teachers and deal with the difficulties 
that arise with older teachers in that grade. 

From time to time it is expected that all scholars 
should have the privilege of having their knowledge 

tested and their advance in the 
5. Examinations, ^^^^^.^^ recognized. In the lower 

CertTficLus; ^''''^^^' ^^'i^ "J"^^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ ^y 

Graduations ^^^^ examinations, in the upper 

grades as soon as the children 
liave a reasonable ability to write, examinations con- 
sistent with the movement of the course and the ability 
of the scholars, should be offered at least twice a year. 
In religious education all examinations should be 
voluntary, because in religious training it is more 
important that scholars should make a deliberate choice 

23 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

to have themselves tested than that certain answers 
should be given to examination questions. 

All scholars who pass successfully the examinations 
in any one grade should receive a certificate which 
records the successful work done in that grade. Hav- 
ing received a certain number of certificates, a diploma 
can be given at the conclusion of the course. In this 
way, the sense of achievement in the scholar is ap- 
pealed to and rewarded. 

In religious education every scholar should be con- 
stantly promoted. The scholar will be taught one of 
the fundamental principles of life if the Church in its 
educational work will say clearly to him, "We offer 
you certain courses and certain opportunities for your 
religious education. We cannot compel you to accept 
and fulfil them. Whenever you pass your examina- 
tions, the Church recognizes your achievement, when- 
ever you fail, you will still be promoted, but without 
certificate. If you do not voluntarily make up your 
work, the Church can only impress upon you the fact 
that you are the loser and must ultimately bear the 
penalty of your loss." The value of this voluntary 
attitude has been demonstrated again and again. In 
one school it is the custom of the superintendent to 
announce two Sundays in advance, that there will be 
a written examination. He states clearly that he an- 
nounces the fact so that those who wish to be prepared 
will have an opportunity and those who wish to es- 
cape the examination will be relieved of embarassment. 
On those examination days the school has its largest 
attendance because the scholars like to be rated as 

24 



Requisites for Success 

capable of meeting a responsibility that is so clearly 
])laced in their hands to accept or reject. 

The custom of having- graduating exercises at the 
end of the course should be promoted. The growing 
tendency to take these graduating exercises out of the 
week-day night when they are more or less social 
events and make them part of the principal service 
on Sunday morning is to be highly commended. 

The money which scholars bring to Sunday School 

should be utilized in training them to accept the re- 

_ sponsibility of Christian steward- 

6. Class Treasury , . . . , m, r 

ship m society. Ihe expense lor 

books, materials, etc., required 
by the School should be met by an appropriation from 
the vestry or from some special fund raised by those 
interested in the educational progress of the parish. 

One of the greatest benefits of the Sunday School 
should be the assisting of the child to take his place in 
the social fabric. In an investigation in which a num- 
ber of students were asked if they could remember 
what they enjoyed most in Sunday School the 
most frequent answer was "I liked to go to Sunday 
School because I was with other children." The utili- 
zation of the social instinct by the Sunday School is 
fundamental to its success. Children at an early age 
begin to desire a place in the social fabric. As they 
desire food and exercise, so they gravitate to any 
opportunity where there is a chance to act and react 
upon those of their own age and thereby build their 
characters. The class teacher should keep ever in 
mind not alone the development of the individual child, 
but the development of the social consciousness which 

25 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

the class is producing. The social development in a 
class depends on class spirit, and this grows best when 
the class engages as a class in some enjoyable and in- 
teresting activity. The class as a class must go out 
in deed and in imagination over the world and attain 
certain ends. 

In order to accomplish this the traditional idea of 
using money brought by the scholars to pay the Sunday 
School expenses must be eliminated and the gifts of 
the children used for educational ends. No one can 
prophesy the advantage that would come to the chil- 
dren if for the next ten years all of the money con- 
tributed by them Sunday by Sunday was used in 
educating them in stewardship. 

This is the process: Let the class know that all 
money brought becomes class property. The class can 
spend that money in any way it chooses, providing 
every cent is spent in helping someone or making 
someone happy. A class treasurer should be appointed 
and he should have a book in which to keep a record 
of the amount of money that is collected by the class 
and turned over to the Sunday School Treasury. He 
should also have a small block of paper on which to 
communicate to the Treasurer that his class desires cer- 
tain sums paid to certain objects. 

The following quotation from one who has tried 
this method describes how it operated in one school: 

"It was interesting to note the variety of causes 
which the classes discovered, and reports from the 
groups at the end of the year indicated that as a whole 
they had participated in work reaching practically 
every part of the world. Money had been sent to one 

26 



Requisites for Success 

country for the puipose of purchasing Bibles and Test- 
aments for boys and girls concerning whom the teach- 
er had information. Some money had gone for work in 
the far North. One class of girls had aided a work 
in a foreign land. Some money had been given to 
boards and institutions nearer home; a well known 
social settlement had been aided and one or two classes 
had contributed to a fund for tenement children. These 
are a few of many causes in which the pupils became 
interested. 

"In addition to these class treasurers there was also 
a school treasurer. The money for the school treasury 
was voted as occasion demanded from the class treas- 
uries to the school treasury. This enabled the school 
to do certain things as a school in addition to those 
that were being done by the individual classes. This 
included the support of a pupil in a mission school, a 
considerable gift to a needy institution near at hand 
and a special contribution to a famine fund. It was 
felt that considerably more money was provided for 
use in extending the Kingdom." 

Those who have used the class treasurer testify that 
there is no other single element in the work of the 
school that tends to develop such an active class spirit. 

This course would urge upon teachers the grave re- 
sponsibility of requiring home work. In religious in- 

_ ,, ... , . struction wherever home work is 

7. Home Work and • i • i 1 1 i • ^ 

^, ^ ^ , required it should be attained at 

Note Books 

any cost. To have boys and 

girls grow up with the feeling that they can neglect 
w^hat the Church in its school requires of them is to 

27 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

destroy one of the fundamental elements in religious 
education. 

As soon as possible small home tasks should be 
given, but always tasks that can reasonably be accom- 
plished. No new tasks should be given until the prev- 
ious ones have been completed. "He that is faithful 
in that which is least is faithful also in much." To 
allow children to be unfaithful in some of the things 
that are considered of minor importance in the Sunday 
School (to illustrate: the bringing of the lesson book 
or note book each Sunday) is to lay a very unfortunate 
foundation for the teaching of Christian doctrine and 
consecration. 

This course does not urge the use of pupils' text 
books, it rather stands for each scholar's having his own 
note book, in which he writes outlines, references, 
short descriptions and stories, and pastes pictures, maps 
and charts. This book should be of small size (4%, by 
7). It should have stiff covers and its contents should 
represent the growth and development of the scholar 
for a period covering at least two or three years. 

The effective teaching of the Lesson Material in 

most Sunday Schools today, demands a liberal use of 

„ ^. ^ ^ , pictures. In order that teachers 

8. Pictures, Books, .,..,»,. 

may exercise their right oi choice 
Maps, etc. . 

and select the pictures that will 

best express the religious message which they find in 
any particular lesson, there should be provided a pic- 
ture scrap book and one person to have charge of it. 
This person should secure from the various picture 
publishers copies illustrating the various stories of the 
Bible, so that if a teacher decides to teach the Life of 

28 



Requisites for Success 

David, she can go to this scrap book, pick out the pic- 
tures which for her purpose best illustrate the life, 
give her order to the person in charge of the scrap 
book, and feel that the pictures will in course of time 
come to her hand. It has been found that this method 
develops the teacher far more than the deliberate turn- 
ing over to her of pictures chosen by someone else. 

The New York Sunday School Commission has 
made a special effort to provide all kinds of pictures 
necessary for use in Sunday School work. Corres- 
pondence will make possible the securing of any pic- 
tures desired. 

It will be readily seen that almost all of the various 
text books which are in use today, can be used with this 
course. Some will require more adaptation than others. 
The titles of books which the writer has utilized in 
some schools, will be found in notes at the bottom of 
various pages. Even these books have had to be adapt- 
ed more or less to local conditions, and will no doubt 
be changed as better books are published. 

There is a growing feeling that it is impossible to 
publish any single set of text books that will meet all 
of the various conditions which dominate the schools 
of the Church. "What is needed is a variety of text books 
and greater intelligence in selection on the part of rec- 
tors and teachers. In the appendix of this book will be 
found lists of text books recommended by various 
dioceses and curricula. 

All the text books and all material mentioned in this 
book can be secured from the New York Sunday School 
Commission. 

29 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
in Teachers* IVIeetings 

11. Is a clear definition of the purpose of our Sunday 

School posted or printed so that parishioners and 
scholars know its dominating aims? 

12. Are the titles of the various courses and grades so 

published or printed on a chart that they are con- 
stantly before the scholars, appealing to their sense 
of achievement and encouraging them to work so 
that they may pass through the various courses to 
graduation ? 

13. Is there present in those who direct and teach our 

school, a passion for souls? 

Has every child lost from the Sunday School been 
accounted for? 

Are all scholars absent two successive Sundays 
looked up? 

Is the reason for the leak in the older grades 
carefully studied in each case? 

14. Is it wise to reduce the amount of time given to Bible 

instruction, in order to make room for the four 
other interests outlined by this course? 

15. Are our teachers competent to take a book and make 

the selection of the most important lessons for the 
limited amount of time, or is it better to have a 
uniform lesson course with all the lessons dated? 

16. How far does any teacher build on what was accom- 

plished in the preceding course? 

Ask each teacher to give an illustration. 

17. If a regular meeting of the teachers is a failure, to 

whom belongs the fault? 

18. Can we create three departments in our Sunday 

School? 

Who are the persons who would make good de- 
partment heads? 

19. How far is it legitimate to think that the time of our 

30 



Requisites for Success 

boys and girls is too much occupied to require from 
them work in religious instruction? 

20. What hinders us from adopting the Class Treasury 

System ? 

How can we remove the hindrance? 

21. Discuss the connection between the rules of the school 

and the spiritual life of the scholars. 

If rules are made that are disobeyed, what is th« 
influence on spiritual development? 



31 



CHAPTER II. 
The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

(From the First Through the Ninth Year) 

The Church begins her education of the child at the 

font. In the olden days, the position of godfather and 

-.-•- ^i. I. J godmother was a responsible po- 
The Church and , . . 

sition, to many today it is not. 

At the baptism people stand up 
and make replies and then send a silver mug or silver 
spoon and in many cases forget all other responsibility. 
The Church has seen the situation, found herself un- 
able to cope with it and has organized a department 
known as the Font Roll, to which is now delegated the 
beginnings of the Religious Nurture of the child which 
was formerly carried forward more or less effectively 
by the sponsors. 

What does the Font Roll mean? It means that as 
soon as a baby is baptised his name is enrolled and he 
is recognized as part of the educational responsibility 
of the Church. 

A Font Roll demands as a competent directress a 
woman who is fond of children and who has consider- 
able executive ability. She must have tact and certain 
characteristics which will cause her and her work to be 

32 



The Religious Nurture of CJiildhood 

welcomed in every home in the parish. This directress 
sliould be surrounded by a committee made np of some 
of the women of the parish and a great many of the 
senior girls of the Sunday School. 

The work of the organization is something after 
this order: The children in the Primary Department 
are encouraged to notify their teachers of all new 
babies born in their homes or in the parish. To 
them, or really to the mother, should be sent flow- 
ers or a card of greeting from the Primary De- 
partment of the school. This may not mean very 
much to some mothers who possibly have conservatories 
filled with flowers, but those mothers should take the 
gift because of what it means to the educational life 
of the Primary Department; on the other hand, there 
are homes where flowers seldom enter at that sacred 
moment of the birth of a child, and here a few flowers 
from the Primary Department are most joyfully wel- 
comed. 

What has happened in the Primary Department on 
Sunday is reported to the directress of the Font Roll. 
She calls upon the mother, endeavors to arrange for 
the baptism of the baby, and with due ceremony on 
some succeeding Sunday his name is enrolled on the 
Font Roll in the presence of the Primary Department. 
This is the beginning of the educational life of that 
child in the Church. With the help of committees 
made up of girls drawn from the Senior Department 
the birthdays and the great Church festivals, Christ- 
mas and Easter, are marked in the life of that home 
by the gift of cards or flowers from the Primary De- 
partment. Again and again the little follvs who meet 

33 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

on Sunday are reminded of the little folks at home 
who will some day join them. 

Into each home the directress of the Font Roll 
sends by her senior girls a blank book which is known 
as "My Book." Into this is entered by these girls dur- 
ing their visits cards and pictures, sometimes kodak 
photographs, and in fact anything that will tend to 
show the mother the interest of the Church in her 
child. In "My Book" are mounted the little slips 
with suggested prayers for the child and suggested 
hymns that he can profitably learn. As the book grows 
the baby grows and the time comes when "My Book" 
forms the basis for revealing to the child the fact that 
the Church has been thinking of him and caring for 
him through all those silent years when he was unable 
to express with his lips all the wonderful things that 
his eyes have revealed. 

Much space could easily be consumed describing 
the part that this book and the Font Roll Organization 
may play in the development of the religious lives of 
not only children, but parents. Who can estimate all 
that is present in the heart of the mother and father, 
as well as in the heart of the little child, when at five 
years of age he enters the Primary Department of the 
Sunday School with all of this behind him? 

In turning to the lesson material of the Primary 

Department it must be understood that all stories 

should be considered in relation 
Lesson Material ^ ^, i • ^- i • i i • 

to the objectives which we desire 

to accomplish in this department. Every lesson should 

be the outgrowth of three efforts. 

1. The first is to value and complete whatever the 

34 



The Religious Nurhire of Childhood 

child has ah-eady exxicrienced. Tn simple words give 
the child something that is intelligent to him because 
it is based upon and tends to complete the experience 
which he has already had. 

2. The second is that each lesson must add new 
material which will appeal to his wonder and strength- 
en and develop his emotions of awe and sympathy. 

3. The third is that each lesson must lay a foun- 
dation for advance by such a promise as will cause him 
to look forward with eagerness to the stories that are 
to come. 

In the first year in Sunday School the aim of the 
story work should be to appeal to the emotional life 
of the child which is eagerly calling for the nurture 
that can only come from divine influences. We have 
yet to hear of the normal child entering the Primary 
Department without some conception of God. It would 
be interesting for us to go into the question of how 
the conception of God grows in the child's mind, but 
that would be foreign to the work which we have in 
hand. The point which we want to recognize is that 
children come to the Sunday School with a conception 
of God and that they are taught to expect that in the 
Sunday School God will be made more real to them. 
The underlying principle which we should keep in 
mind is not that we are going to tell the child so much 
about God, as to make him realize the influence of God 
in his life. All stories at this time which tend to 
develop the sense of wonder and awe because of God's 
works of creation are valuable. To these should be 
added such stories as would cause him to have 
gratitude to God for his personal care. The child 

35 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

senses unconsciously that he is dependent upon others 
for all that he receives and this emotion of dependence 
is made to have its highest value when it is filled with 
a sense of divine dependence and the child is led to 
have gratitude to divine sources for all that he re- 
ceives. It is the age when everything is mysterious, 
when nothing is understood, when there is no desire 
for the kind of understanding and comprehension 
which comes later. He seeks to receive his instruction 
mostly through contact with the things of the world 
that he can see, handle, touch, and taste. 

All of the stories about God the Creator and Father, 
God and His good gifts, thanking God, God caring 
for men and women, God speaking to men and women, 
have been told for generations because they not only 
appealed to but developed the child's emotional life. 

The course should follow^ certain definite steps 
represented by the tjTDCS of stories. The stories should 
be arranged in groups by themes which might follow 
these five main lines: 1. To know God the Heavenly 
Father, who loves him, provides for and directs him. 
2. To know Jesus the Son of God, who became a little 
child, who went about doing good and who is the Sav- 
iour of little children. 3. To know about the Heavenly 
Home. 4. To distinguish between right and wrong. 
5. To show his love for God by working with Him and 
for othei*s. 

In the later years there should be an advance in the 
stories corresponding to the development of the child. 
They should show ways by which the child may express 
his love and trust and obedience. Stories showing 
Jesus the Saviour in his love and work for men and 

36 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

also showinpr how children may become helpers of Jesus 
and others in doincc God's will if presented will make 
their call to the child. 

In the eighth year when imitation is probably at 
its strong'est point there should be held before the 
Primary children various tyi^es of people who chose to 
do God's will, also certain stories of the life of our 
Lord which reveal Him as obeying His Heavenly 
Father, thereby training and stimulating the choice 
power of the child. 

It is quite impossible to go into the details of these 
various lessons. The many Primaty teacher's text 
books with complete outlines of stories and pictures 
give such definiteness in material and in method that 
all who are interested may read and profit. The books 
furnish more material than can possibly be used and 
more suggestions than can be carried out. We should 
be very thankful that the careful and painstaking study 
given to tlie Eeligious Nurture of children in the Prim- 
ary Department has now taken such definite form that 
there is no excuse for haziness or inefficiency in this 
Department. 

The lessons recommended for this work are found 
in the New International Graded Courses. Pupils un- 
der six years of age may be given the "Beginners Stor- 
ies." These are arranged in lessons covering two years. 
They are accompanied by a teacher's text book, pic- 
tures, etc. 

Pupils from six to eight years of age may follow 
any one of the three courses entitled "Primary Stor- 

37 



The Children's ChaUenge to the Church 

ies." In the course a special book for tlie teacher is 
provided and handwork for the schohir is suggested.* 
We cannot begin too early to pay heed to memoriza- 
tion. It should be encouraged with these little people 

.., , by a variety of methods. We 

Memory Work / , . 

do not mean by memory work 

simply the repetition of text and catechism, we mean 
as well the activity of the mind in retelling stories. 
The twice-told-tale is the one the children love, there- 
fore the aim of the work in this department should be 
not only a variety of stories, but the repetition of 
stories as the foundation of memorization. 

In the lower grades of the Primary Department the 
teacher should allow the children to finish out sen- 
tences in the twice-told-tales by giving names and 
short phrases, thereby holding their attention and tak- 
ing the first step in the training of memory. As soon as 
they can begin to read the texts should be put upon the 
blackboard and blanks should be left for the important 
words. As the weeks go by the omissions should be 
lengthened and in place of words phrases should be 
left out, until the children wake to the joy of possess- 
ing the whole text or passage. 

The secret in giving joy to the memory exercise 
does not depend upon teaching the child the meaning 
of that which is memorized; it rests rather in making 
the child see some connection between the thing mem- 
orized and his own experience. We all know that the 



* Attention is called to the new primary courses issued 
by The Young Churchman Co., "Handbook for Primary 
Teachers in Church Sunday Schools," by Miss x\nna F. 
Murray. For other books sec Appendix A. 

38 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

little folks cannot understand the Lord's Prayer or the 
Creed, yet we recognize that these should be memorized 
at the earliest moment. The success in giving the child 
joy in his memorization does not come from teaching 
him the meaning of the words or attempting to give 
him the thought, it comes from showing him that we 
all say the Lord's Prayer and we all say the Creed 
and we all strive to obey the Commandments and per- 
form our duty to God and our neighbor, and that we 
want him to be able to join with us.* 

Another fact to be remembered is that the manner 
in which words to be memorized are repeated by the 
teacher needs careful attention. A reverent expression 
and not a mere recitation of sacred words stimulates a 
reverent and respectful feeling on the part of the child 
which is the best foundation for profitable memory 
work. 

At this time the teacher should see that the chil- 
dren know a number of short prayers for daily use. 
From time to time the general petitions and thanks- 
givings of these daily prayers should be connected 
with some special desires and blessings, so that the 
child will be taught many associations with familiar 
words. 

The following prayers have the merit that they 
all have been used successfully. 



* To every scholar should be given a "Step Catechism" 
with space for teachers' signatures at the bottom of each 
page. Every teacher should be provided with Teaching the 
Catechism — Ward, price 00c (Longmans, Green & Co.) and 
the Mystery Play Lady Catechism and the Child — Hobart. 

39 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 
Prayers for Very Youny Children 



irORXING PRAYER 



Lord, our Uoavoulv I'nthor. holp mo to-dn y ; koop mv 
heart mui lips and hands from sin: bh^ss all for whom 1 
ought to pray . . . : and help us all to love Thee more 
and more; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 



EN^ENIXG PRAYER 

Lord, our Heavenly FatJier. I thank Thee for Tliy 
h^vo and oaro for nie to-day : forgive my sins . . . : bless 
all for whom I ought to pray . . . ; and when I lay me 
down to sleep, wateh over mo and guard mo all this night: 
through <Tosus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 



CHILD i> MORNING TKAYKU 

I thank Thee, Lord, for sloop and rest. 
For all the things that 1 lovo l^est-, 
Now guide mo through another day. 
And bloss my work and bless my play, 
Lord n\ake mo strong for noble ends, 
Proteot and bloss my loving friends. 
Of all mankind gixul Christians make; 
All this 1 ask for Jesus' sake. Amen. 



child's evening PRAYER 

Lord, send me sleep that I may live. 
The wrongs I've done this day forgive, 
Bless every deed and thought and word 
I've rightly done, or said, or heard. 
Bless relatives and friends alway. 
Teaeh all the world to wateh and pray. 
"My thanks for all my blessings take 
And hear my prayer, for Jesus* sake. Amen 

40 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 



PRAYER. 



Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep, 
When in the morning light I wake, 
Help me the path of love to take, 
And keep the same for Thy dear sake. 



Father Divine, the daylight now is gone, I rest in Thee, 
Teach me Thy will, that I may be at one with Love and 

Harmony, 
No evil can approacli me while I sleep, for God is near, 
And He in harmony His child will keep till daylight doth 

appear, 
Peace, perfect peace and love shall be ray rest, when night 

doth fall 
I sink to sleep, my thoughts of Heaven bless, knowing that 

God is all. 

Sing 

Hear us, Father, as we pray, 

Thou has kept us through the day, 

Fold us now in drowsy night, 

Wake us with Thy morning light. Amen. 



MORNING PRAYERS 



Now I wake and see the light, 
'Tis God has kept me through the night, 
To him I lift my voice and pray. 
That He will keep me through the day. 



God, our Father, hear me, 
Keep me safe all day. 
Let me grow like Jesus, 
Lead me in His Way. 
Make me good and gentle, 
Kind and loving, too, 
Pleasing God in all things 

41 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

m 

That I say or do. 
All that makes me happy 
Comes from God above: 
So I thank Thee, Father, 
For Thy care and love. 



Two little eyes to look to God, 
Two little ears to hear His word, 
Two little feet to walk His ways, 
Hands to serve Him all my days. 

One little tongue to speak His truth. 
One little heart for Him in youth; 
Take them, Jesus, let them be 
Always willing, true to Thee. 



EVENING PRAYERS 

God, our Father, hear me. 
Keep me safe all night. 
Watch while I am sleeping 
Till the morning light. 
Make me very sorry 
For all naughty ways; 
Help me to be better 
In the coming days. 
All that makes me happy 
Comes from God above: 
So I thank Thee, Father, 
For Thy care and love. 



Lord, keep me safe this night. 
Secure from all my fears; 
May angels guard me while I sleep 
Till morning light appears. 



O Lord, I am truly sorry for what I have done that is 

wrong (especially for ). Forgive me, and help me 

to love and serve Thee better to-morrow Amen. 

42 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

O God, I pray Thee bless my (father and mother and 
brothers and sisters) and all my friends. Bless all people 
who are trying to do good, and help all who are in trouble, 
for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 

God, my heavenly Father, who lovest me so much, 
help me to have loving feelings in my heart. Forgive all 
who have been unkind to me. Teach me always to be gentle 
and kindhearted, especially to any one who is old or ill or 
poor, that so I may make people happy, and be more like 
my patient and loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. 



ON COMING INTO CnURCH 

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me 
praise His holy name. 

Some of the simple beautiful liyinns such as "Jesus 
Tender Shepherd Hear Me" and "There is a Friend for 
Little Children" should also enter into the Memory 
Work of the child. 

To the above Memory Work should be added, in 
the later years in the Primary Department, short Bible 
texts which are related to the Bible lessons given Sun- 
day by Sunday; such psalms as the 23d and 121st, and 
hymns like "Once in Koyal David's City," and "Glory 
to the Blessed Jesus" and "There is a Green Hill Far 
Away." This last hymn should not be taught until the 
child is 7 or 8 years of age. It has been an interesting 
study to find the pleasure which children at this time 
take in the hymns in minor keys. They seem to fulfil 
the desire of the child to express the mystery which 
he is beginning to feel in his life. 

At the conclusion of the Primary Department the 
habit of memorization should have been so fixed that 

43 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

during the Junior period the mind may be filled with 

some of the choicest passages of sacred literature. 

We pass now to the third division of work which 

should enter into the Christian Nurture of the Primary 

Department. We call it Church 
Church Knowledge -,;r i n nr ^ ^^ 

Knowledge. We mean by the 

phrase, the relating of the child to such facts and ex- 
periences as will reveal the Church to the child as the 
divine institution by which Christ does His work in the 
world. We speak of the Church as the body of Christ. 
We mean by that the organic expression of His life. 
When we take the child in baptism and graft him into 
the body of Christ's Church, we mean that from that 
moment he has a new position in his life and it is per- 
haps the most important part of the Sunday School 
teacher's task to make the child realize this new posi- 
tion in such simple ways as will lay the foundation for 
deeper recognitions later on. 

One of the most interesting discoveries made in 
recent years is that in the non-Eoman Churches a large 
proportion of the younger children never enter the 
Church structure, except under some unusual cir- 
cumstances, such as a Christmas or Easter service. This 
means that the Father's house is not made familiar to 
them, they are not taught to feel at home in the Church 
building itself. 

In order to overcome this difficulty, there have been 
inaugurated what is known as Pilgrimages. At least 
three times a year the various classes of the Primary 
Department are conducted into the Church for three 
distinct pilgrimages. Before they are taken in, they 

44 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

are prepared for the pilgrimage by a brief description 
of what they are going to do and see. 

The first pilgrimage is called the Pilgrimage of the 
Kave. It consists of taking the children to some 
seats and telling them that this is where they will sit 
when they go to Church. Next some of the simple pray- 
ers used when we enter Church are taught. The coming 
in of the choir and the presence of the minister are 
briefly described. They are taught that when they sing 
they must alwaj's stand up, and when they pray they 
must kneel down, and that when the minister preaches 
and the Bible is read is the time to sit in the seats. They 
are taken to the various windows of the Church and told 
the stories which the windows should tell, and at the 
end of the pilgrimage they should sing one of their 
little songs and say together some simple prayer of 
thanksgiving for the Church. 

In succeeding pilgrimages of the Nave as the child- 
ren advance in age the method is more catechetical 
and children are asked to retell some of the things they 
learned in the previous pilgrimages. New scholars 
have entered and the older ones take pleasure in 
informing the newer ones. As the years develop the 
Pilgrimage of the Nave becomes more and more inter- 
esting, not so much because of new material, but be- 
cause of the gradually unfolding vision of the child 
and the growth of a deeper comprehension of that vis- 
ion. 

The second pilgrimage is called the Pilgrimage of 
the Choir. They are taken to the choir stalls and allowed 
to sit where the Choir is seated, they stand where the 
choir stands and sings, and they sit in the choir staUs 

45 



The Children's Challenge io the Church 

while the teacher tells some simple story about praise, 
then the organist plays one or two short selections, usu- 
ally some pastoral or some bright organ selection, and at 
the end he should modulate into some of the familiar 
hymns which they have learned in their Primary 
work. As their faces brighten with recognition, they 
should be asked to tell what it is the organist is play- 
ing, and if they would like to sing. In succeeding pil- 
grimages to the choir, the children should be allowed to 
go into the pulpit and look down upon the congrega- 
tion. They should be reminded that they will be able 
to say that they have stood exactly where the minister 
preaches. The Bible should be taken from the lectern 
and if necessary placed on the floor so that they can 
all group around it and lift it and turn its pages. They 
might read some of the simple words and familiar texts 
and if there are pictures, look at them and tell what 
they see. If the font is near the choir, the instruction 
on the font should be included at this time, on the other 
hand, if the font is at the entrance to the Church, the 
instruction should enter in the pilgrimage of the 
nave. 

The third pilgrimage is the Pilgrimage of the 
Sanctuary. The children are taken to the altar rail 
and their attention is called to all of the beauties 
of the chancel, the cross on the altar, the carv- 
ings of the altar, the lights and the vases 
with their beautiful flowers and the window over 
the altar. Each instruction should end with a 
promise. To illustrate: Their attention should be 
called to the Bishop's chair, and Confirmation should 
be described in simple terms. At the conclusion they 

46 



The ReUgio2is Nurture of Childhood 

should be told tliat some day they will be confirmed, 
that they will kneel at this very rail and the Bishop's 
hands will be laid on their heads and a beautiful prayer 
will be said for them by the Bishop. This pilgrimage 
should end by the class kneeling at the altar rail and 
saying together a simple prayer taught by the teacher, 
such as "Dear Father in Heaven, help me to be strong 
and pure so that some day the Bishop's hands may be 
laid on my head and I become strengthened by Con- 
firmation with Thy Holy Spirit." 

The climax of another pligrimage to the Sanctuary 
should be a simple description of the Holy Communion. 
The children should be reminded that some day they 
will kneel at the altar rail as their mothers and fathers 
do and receive the Sacrament. This pilgrimage, too, 
should end with a simple prayer of consecration. 

You will see at a glance the opportunities which 
are given to impress the children with the beauty of the 
Church. It has already been demonstrated that the 
children, who have had these pilgrimages, enjoy Church- 
going and sit quietly throughout the service, for their 
minds are occupied in going over that which has been 
made familiar to them. 

In these pilgrimages is also laid the foundation for 
the future instruction in Confirmation and also prepar- 
ation for the Holy Communion. Children who have 
passed through these Church experiences are found to 
enter more naturally into the storm and stress of their 
youth and to accept Confirmation and the Holy Com- 
munion as divine helps offered to them by the Church 
for their strengthening and upbuilding. 

In every church there should be a Pilgrimage Com- 

47 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

mittee. Devout communicants should be appointed 
to make a special study of the particular church in 
which the children worship and as the outcome of 
that study prepare definite instructions on these pil- 
grimages. Those who conduct the pilgrimage should 
always associate with them younger persons, thereby 
preparing them to do this very important work in the 
future. 

Beside the Church Knowledge implied by the above 
there is the Church Knowledge that centers around 
the Christian Year. The fact that we have different 
colors and different names for the different seasons 
and that those names are closely connected with the 
life of the Master should be made known to the child 
at the earliest possible moment. In the room of the 
Primary Department might be a banner of the color 
of the Church Year with the name of the season upon 
it, and a picture portraying the event of the season. 
Each Sunday the picture should be changed by the 
children and the little ones asked what the banner 
stands for, in order that, as they grow in the depart- 
ment, there should be a growth in familiarity with the 
Christian Year. 

Beside the Church knowledge and Church experi- 
ence already suggested every teacher in the later years 
of the Primary Department should see that the chil- 
dren attend a certain number of services during the 
year. In cases where parents are faithful and bring 
the children to Church the teacher has no responsibil- 
ity, but today she has a distinct responsibility toward 
those children whose parents neglect Church. At least 
once a month the teacher should call for them or make 

48 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

it possible for them to attend chiircli with her; if they 
are young and restless they should be taken out before 
the sermon. 

More fundamental than what I have already des- 
cribed is the frequent attendance at a baptismal ser- 
vice. Nothing interests a child more than a little baby. 
The Church makes its deepest impression when system- 
atically at least three or four times during each year 
the Primary Department sees a little baby made a 
"member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor 
of the Kingdom of Heaven." These services should be 
promised to the class, telling the children that so-and- 
so's little brother (or little sister ) is to be admitted 
into the Church and that from that day he will be their 
own little brother in Christ. The foundation is here 
laid for an understanding of the child's own baptism 
and for a comprehension of the fellowship in the 
Church. 

We have little more than opened up this subject 
with all its possibilities. We have at last begun to realize 
what a great loss there has been to the Church by let- 
ting the most impressionable years of childlife pass 
without initiating them into those experiences of 
Church life which are very sweet but powerful com- 
monplaces in the development of our own spiritual 
power. 

We might go on and describe some of the methods 
of hand work which are slowly entering into this De- 
partment, such as the building of the Church with 
blocks. In the process of the building, its various parts 
are named and the simple lessons of penitence and 
prayer, thanksgiving and praise are taught. 

49 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

In turning to the fourth division of the work of 
the Primary Department we face the very difficult but 
. . very precious subject of the de- 

votional life of the child. I am 
sure many of us when we have heard the child at 
prayer have felt the way the Blessed Master felt when 
he said "Of such is the Kingdom of God." We have all 
had the experience of feeling the natural spontaneous 
devotional spirit of the child, pure and sweet as the 
new born mountain spring that glistens in the sun- 
shine. 

In the wonderful force of imitation God places 
the foundation of the development of the spiritual 
life of the child. The child should first learn to pray 
by seeing others pray. The so-called prayers "at moth- 
er's knee," while very beautiful to think of from an 
esthetic sense, do not represent the right foundation 
in Keligious Nurture. We will have less "saying" of 
prayers when the child and the parent early kneel 
together. 

Those who do the font roll work have many golden 
opportunities to talk with the mothers of children. 
They should seize such opportunities to remind the 
mother that the first instruction in prayer should 
come in the folding of baby's hands at night and morn- 
ing when the mother kneels at the crib, and the bowing 
of baby's head at daily meals w^hen grace is said. It 
will not be long before the little lips will join in the 
family prayers and the first natural steps be taken in 
the devotional life. 

Next comes the special petitions for special people 
and for special things. The "I want" plays a large 

60 



The nrligioiis Xurture of Cliildliood 

part ill tlie little child's life and it should find ex- 
pression in his prayers. As time goes on the element 
of thanksgiving should enter and the beauties and joys 
of each day and the successes of effort should find their 
place in expressions of thankfulness. 

When the child enters the Primary Department 
he should find, beside the formal but simple prayers at 
the opening and closing of the session, special prayers 
and thanksgiving which should be said by the whole 
school. To illustrate: One of the children is sick, has 
had an accident, he should be prayed for by name and 
God should be asked to help him. Some great blessing 
has come into some of the lives of the children, a new 
baby, a birthday, a partj^, a gift of which the recipient 
is very proud, all of these should be held up to the 
children as opportunities when they should look toward 
the Heavenly Father and give Him thanks. 

The Church should teach definite prayers to the 
Primary children to be used when they enter Church 
and in the silent moments at the conclusion of the 
service. (For suggested prayers see under Memory 
Work.) The Primary Department should never ne- 
glect to say a prayer for the rector and the Sunday 
School teachers of the Church, and the individual 
children should be instructed both by their Primary 
teachers and their parents to include in their private 
devotions the name of the rector, the Sunday School 
teacher and the particular church to which they go. 

A word of caution is needed in developing the devo- 
tional life of the child. It will be found that at about 
seven or eight years of age the child is very sensitive to 
devotional exercise, especially if he is under the influ- 

51 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

ence of the force of imitation. Insistence upon an 
abnormal devotional expression, too extended in time 
and too outside of the child's daily experiences, will stir 
up trouble for the future religious nurture of the child. 
Each individual has his own temperament and the de- 
velopment of his own devotional experience at this 
time must be guided by the demands of his tempera- 
ment and by the daily surroundings in which he lives. 

Very closely connected with the prayer is the use 
of hymns. Is it overstating the situation to say that 
any Sunday morning in Church probably less than 
fifty percent of the people singing a hymn have any 
devotional conception reigning in their hearts and 
minds? They are singing from habit, or because they 
enjoy the music, or because they like the exercise of 
their own power of vocalization, but so far as standing 
in the presence of God and yielding Him the praise that 
is due Him, that is not in mind. The reason for this 
situation is due to the lack of proper instruction in the 
devotional life in the impressionable years. In the 
Primary Department the singing of any hymn should 
be preceded by an explanation of the devotional 
thought in the hymn. If they are to sing "Once in 
Koyal David's City" they might be told the story of 
the shepherds, and of how they must have folded their 
hands in adoration when they saw the little babe in 
the manger. Every hymn is capable of a devotional 
interpretation and that interpretation should be used 
generously with the children. So far as possible they 
should be taught to visualize the scenes of the hymns 
they sing. 

As the children learn to read it is possible to give 

52 



The Religioics Nurture of Childhood 

them little prayer cards which they can use at their 
bedsides and also in their Primary Department. The 
use of such cards should be varied. We hope the time 
will come when Primary Departments will systematic- 
ally issue different cards during this period in the 
child's life when there are such rapid changes going on 
physically, mentally and emotionally. The material 
for these cards should come from mothers. Am I too 
visionary if I prophesy that the day will come when 
the prayer life of children will become as legiti- 
mate a subject for discussion at Mothers' Clubs as "the 
feeding of infants?" The Church is waiting for church 
mothers to study this very important subject. In many 
families Prayers for Little Men and Women by John 
Martin (Harper's) are used with much success. The 
following prayer shows how valuable the book can be- 
come in meeting the various spiritual needs of children. 
No one should criticize any of these prayers until they 
have watched their effect upon children. 



Going to School 

Dear God, a school-day comes again, 

With many things for me to do. 
Please bless my Heart and guide my Brain 

And make me thoughful, strong and true. 
My lessons may seem dull to me, 

And study hours long and dry; 
But if You help me, then I'll see 

How fast those useful hours fly. 

God, go forth with me to-day, 

And help my Head and guide my Hand; 
For You are wise and know a way 

53 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

To make me learn and understand. 
Open my Heart and Eyes to see 

How kind is every study hour; 
For each one offers Gifts to me 

Like Wisdomj Patience, Love and Power. 

— From Prayers for Little Men a/nd Women, 
by John Martin. Copyright, 1912, by 
Harper & Brothers. 

We come now to the fifth division of the work in 

Christian Nurture in the Primary Department. With- 

_, . ^. ^ . in recent years the training in 

Christian Service ^, . . . . . 

Christian service has entered 

very fully into the methods of Religious Nurture. 
The movement is the outgrowth of deeper study in the 
psychology of childliood and a keener comprehension 
of the principle that the best educational method in 
child life is that which grows out of enjoyed activity. 
The day is passing when we condemn the normal 
selfishness of children as sinful. We realize that they 
must be selfish, that self-realization and self-expression 
are ends highly to be desired, and that they are im- 
possible without the child's coming to a knowledge of 
his own powers and capacities. We are beginning to 
see as never before the truth of the commandment that 
we cannot love God and love our neighbor until we 
have come to the true love of self. "Know thyself" is 
one of the all important aims of Christian Nurture. 
The Bible instruction which we have talked about, the 
memory work, the devotional life, all in one way or 
another assist the child in coming to face his own 
powers, but they do not completely bring him to self- 
recognition, to the right kind of self -estimation, until 
he has had the opportunity to test and develop his 

54 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

knowledge and his experience in his social surround- 
ings. 

Wlien we speak of Chrisian service, we mean that 
activity of the child's life which finds its basis in the 
impulse to live for others by helping them. We believe 
today that when the child is grafted into the Body 
of the Church, this impulse is one of the most impor- 
tant received, but that its perfection depends upon exer- 
cise. Therefore in Christian service our first responsi- 
bility is to see that the child has something of his very 
own, which he clearly recognizes as his own and which 
as he develops in age must more and more represent the 
result of his own effort, and secondly that he uses his 
own and gives of his own because he clearly sees the 
desires and needs of others and deeply sympathizes 
with them and finds joy in helping them. 

To make the principle perfectly clear we need not 
only what is usually called "missions in the Sunday 
School" but an interest in the local day nursery, the 
consumptives' home, the floating hospital, the newsboys' 
association, and many other philanthropic and religious 
organizations, not primarily for the sake of helping 
those organizations, but for the sake of what helping 
will do educationally for the children. 

In all of the directions for Christian service which 
will now be outlined the object is the development of 
sympathy, helpfulness, curiosity, imitation and all of 
the inner forces of the child's life which should enter 
into his Christian development. 

In planning the activities for children under nine 
years of age we must remember, as Mr. Diffendorfer 
of the Missionary Education Movement has said, "that 

55 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

the child's world is limited to the home, the neighbor- 
hood, the school and the church. The people with 
whom the child comes in contact are parents, neigh- 
borhood friends, relatives, playmates, teachers, the ser- 
vants of the public good, as policemen, letter carriers, 
firemen, health officers, and the large circle of shop- 
keepers who provide our food and clothing. This is the 
child's world. Beyond he knows little or cares little. 
Even if he should learn of other people who live in 
other cities, parts of the country or other countries, 
they become real to him only as he takes them into 
his world. The child's interest in his world is in ac- 
tivity and he is controlled almost entirely by his in- 
stinctive feelings. 

"The child under nine can be taught to show grati- 
tude for benefits received, to help mother and others in 
various home duties, to show kindness to animals by 
feeding the birds, the household pets and the domestic 
animals of the field; to provide flowers for the sick 
in the home and in the community; to give flowers to 
others who may not be sick in order to add to their joy 
and appreciation of life; to help the poor by providing 
clothing, food, pictures and flowers; and the older 
children may care for the younger ones in the home, the 
school, and the Sunday school. 

"In the latter part of the period, especially, the 
teacher may gradually extend the child's interest so as 
to include God's great family of children throughout 
the world. Either through personal observation of for- 
eign children in the community or through stories, 
pictures, objects, nursery rhymes, folk-lore, games, etc., 

56 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

the other children of the world may be brought into 
his life." 

In the practical carrying out of these principles 
the Primary teachers, or those who conduct the school, 
need to provide certain conditions for facilitating the 
development of Christian service. The Primary De- 
partment should first of all have a room of its own. It 
should have one directress who will present the op- 
portunities for service to the children as a depart- 
ment. 

The pennies which are brought by the children 
should be piled up visibly before them, or some record 
made by which they may appreciate how much money 
they are bringing to help other people. They should 
be made to feel that this money is their very own and 
they should know that it is spent to buy flowers or 
fruit or any other material which the Primary Depart- 
ment may use in its work of Christian service. 

A few concrete illustrations of how this work is 
carried on in a Primary Department: The birth of 
every baby in the parish should be reported to the 
Primary Department. The interest which that event 
arouses is the best foundation for the development of 
sympathy. Small cards should be provided upon which 
can be written a little message or a word of compli- 
ment. This card should be attached to a few flowers 
or to a small package of fruit and the two scholars 
living nearest the home of the baby should be appointed 
to carry the message of greeting. 

Beyond a doubt this may entail the attendance of 
some of the senior girls or some of the teachers of the 

67 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

Primary Departnient, but the school should be so 
organized that such assistance could be easily obtained. 

At Christmas and Easter the names of all the chil- 
dren on the Font Roll should be read over and cards or 
flowers or potted plants should be displayed in the room 
of the Primary Department and then sent to the vari- 
ous homes. In the same way all sick children who are 
members of the school, or teachers who are ill, should 
from time to time be remembered. Occasionally, des- 
criptions of day nurseries, children's hospitals and 
other institutions, should be given and the children's 
aid requested. Pictures of these various institutions 
should be shown. 

From time to time, not too often, the need of those 
who have met some of life's misfortunes, the blind, the 
deaf or the maimed, should be brought before the chil- 
dren and their aid asked. This might be done when 
certain stories of the Bible are told; to illustrate: help 
some blind person when the story of Healing the Blind 
Man is told. 

Again, occasionally a very well person should be 
selected as the recipient of the children's loving 
thought. Children's needs in cities and in foreign 
lands should be made vivid and reasonable gifts re- 
quested. All of this activity should be accompanied 
occasionally by short simple prayers for those whom 
the children are to help. 

In working out Christian service one person should 
be appointed to direct and a definite program should be 
made so that the vision of the child and his sjinpathy 
will go out in a variety of directions. Not oftener than 
once a month a brief review of the Christian service of 

58 



The Religious Nurture of Childhood 

the department should be given so as to deepen the im- 
pressions that have been made. 

The conviction is growing that a large amount of 
the inconsistencies which exist between the aims and 
desires of Christian people today and their practice 
and activities is due to the fact that in the early 
training impressions were never made permanent by 
expression. The double standards which exist in most 
all of our lives, that is, the standards by which we think 
and have our ideals, and the standards by which we 
act, are no doubt in a large measure due to the early 
stimulating of our emotions without adequate means 
of practical expression. The vision and the task from 
the very start were not tied closely together. This is 
the aim of the education in Christian service. It is 
bound to receive more and more attention and while it 
may alarm some in that there will be a tendency to 
neglect the instructional and so-called lesson side of 
the Sunday School work, it is bound to strengthen the 
whole life of the Church and make clear the thought in 
our Lord's mind when he said "Not everyone that say- 
eth unto me 'Lord, Lord' but he that doeth the will, 
shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
in Teachers' Meetings 

22. Can we organize a Font Roll Committee? 

How can we improve the Font Roll Organization 
that we already have? 

23. How far have we a clearly defined program for the 

three or four years of the Primary Department? 

59 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Does the leader of the Primary Department meet 
the teachers regularly for conferences and the dis- 
cussion of difficulties? 

24. Where can we get the money to provide each of our 

teachers with "Teaching the Catechism," by Beatrice 
Ward? 

25. How far can we investigate and suggest helps for the 

prayer life of our Primary scholars? 

26. Can we form a Pilgrimage Committee? 

Shall we have special persons to conduct the pil- 
grimages, or shall they be conducted by the regular 
teachers ? 

Will the rector prepare special instruction for 
those teachers who are to conduct the pilgrimages? 

27. What arrangements can be made to have the Primary 

Department witness the Baptismal Service at least 
three or four times during each year? 

28. Has the subject of training the Devotional Life of the 

Primary children been discussed in a series of 
Teachers' Meetings? 

Has it been discussed in the Mothers' Meeting, 
and at the Woman's Guild, and the Men's Club? 

29. Are prayer cards being provided by the Sunday School 

for the private devotions of the children? 

30. Have the Primary teachers made a program by which 

the needs of various objects will be presented to the 
Department and aid and prayers asked? 

31. What method is used to emphasize the fact that the 

pennies brought by the children are to help people 
and make them happy? 

32. Are the plans for Christmas and Easter worked up 

sufficiently in advance to be effectively carried out? 

33. How far is there a close connection made between the 

"vision" and the "task"? 



60 



CHAPTER III. 

The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and 
Girlhood 

(About the Tenth and Eleventh Years) 

We turn now to the study of that period known as 
boyhood and girlhood; the years approximately covered 
by the child when he is in the tenth and eleventh years. 

For efficient teaching at this age there should be as 
thorough comprehension as possible of the general 
characteristics of this period. In any of the modern 
books on Child Study a consideration of this period 
can be found, and every teacher is urged to possess and 
study one of the following books: Coe's Education in 
Religion and Morals, Pattee's Elements of Religious 
Pedagogy, and Smith's Element's of Child Study. 

Instead of going into any description of the char- 
acteristics which form this period, we will begin im- 
mediately to suggest the lines of teaching and activity 
which should occupy this period, and substantiate our 
suggestions by descriptions of the characteristics which 
make these suggestions necessary. 

It is considered by most leaders in education that 
this is the age for Old Testament stories. The boys 

61 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

and girls at this time are be- 
Lesson Material , , 

gmnmg to take an interest in 

reading, whereby they are helped to know a larger realm 
of life. They are beginning to come to self-conscious- 
ness which means that they make their first conscious 
efforts to develop their own personalities. They find 
pleasure in studying about the lives of Jewish heroes, 
because from these lives they gain the material which 
by imitation is worked into the make-up of their own 
lives. 

The forces of nature come to them with a new 
power, and the conflict of the early Jewish people with 
the barriers which nature placed before them, appeals. 
The famines, floods, seas, all arouse an interest because 
they familarize the scholar with God working through 
nature for the upbuilding of His people. There is some 
historic sense and the stories of the Old Testament 
should be presented in chronological order, but great 
emphasis on chronology should not be made. The sense 
of location begins to develop at this time and the places 
of the stories should be related geographically, but in 
the use of the map close connection should be made 
between the place on the map where the scholar lives 
and the place where the Biblical event happened. 

There are so many valuable Old Testament stories 
that it is necessary to make a careful selection for the 
two years' work. The idea of a new story every Sunday 
for two years must not rule, neither must the teacher 
feel that the entire teaching period of the Sunday 
School must be occupied by Old Testament work. One 
of the reasons why the Old Testament stories are sug- 
gested at this time is that they are readily received by 

62 



The Tieligioiis Nmiure of Boijhnod and Girlhood 

the scholar, thoy work silently within his life by their 
own power and thereby set free some of the teacher's 
time for Memory Work and training in Church 
Knowledge, Devotional Life and Christian Activity. 

No teacher should think of telling more than 
twenty-five stories in each of these two years. The 
teacher should hold clearly in mind that the object 
in telling stories is not to familiarize the scholar with 
Old Testament history, but it is to assist him to 
live over the lives of the ancient heroes. The end to 
be desired is to make the scholars see that the religious 
thought in these stories is in this: The Jewish people 
believed themselves to be the children of God; they 
were a poor nation, working their way to power; they 
had trials and successes ; they were made slaves ; they 
granted their freedom, built a kingdom, and prepared 
for the coming of Jesus Christ. 

The first group of twenty-five stories for the tenth 
year of the scholar's life might be told in four divi- 
sions : 

1. Stories of the Patriarchs. 

2. Stories of Moses and Joshua. 

3. Stories of Judges, Ruth and Samuel. 

4. Stories of Saul, David and Solomon. 

It is quite impossible to pick out the particular 
stories which should be told in each of these groups. 
The selections should be made in accordance with the 
class. In a class of girls the wooing of Rebecca is a 
story that wins interest; sometimes it does not stir 
boys. Every teacher in these grades should have books 
that provide material for all of the stories. A famil- 
iarity with this material should be gained and from it 

63 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

should be selected that number and quality of stories 
which will attain with the class the objectives given 
above.* 

The difficulty with Sunday School teaching today is 
that most teachers feel they should tell all the stories of 
the Patriarchs and all the stories of Moses and Joshua 
and so on to the end of the Bible. The highest effic- 
iency of our Sunday School teachers waits on develop- 
ing their sense of selection. 

The method of class work should be simple. A small 
work book with blank pages should be given to each 
scholar. In it should be written the chapter and verses 
in the Bible where the story can be found, also the 
subject of the story and the memory text. On another 
page should be placed a picture illustrating the story. 
This book should have a sufficient number of pages to 
include the work of two or three year's, so that the 
scholar can feel a growth in his knowledge which is 
visualized by the growth of the material in his book. 
During the class period the picture should be mounted 
in the book and the title and text written. 

In the lesson period the teacher should from time 
to time review the scholars on the stories, ascertain 
their favorite story and encourage them to think out 
and tell the reason why they like one story and do not 
another. If this question is repeated from month to 
month, the teacher will notice a development in the 
reasons for the likes and dislikes of the scholars. 

Only by repetition can the real ends of this course 



* Suggested book for teachers: Ea-rly Heroes and 
Heroines. Teacher's Helps. Price 80 cent (Scribner.) For 
other books see Appendix A. 

64 



The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

be attained. After the scholar has mastered the story, 
there is still left the correlating of all the stories in 
order that he may gain the essential points of the 
course: that this was a poor nation of God's children 
who were made slaves, gained their freedom, built a 
kingdom and prepared for the coming of Christ. 

In the second year of Old Testament stories, when 
the scholar is in his eleventh year, all of the methods 
which have been described should be continued. The 
second year's stories might be told in three groups : 

1. Stories of the Prophets. 

2. Stories of the captivity. 

3. The religious stories of Israel. 

The titles of these groups explain themselves. The 
last group, "The religious stories of Israel," should 
come at the conclusion of the course. They stand for 
the stories of Creation, l^oah's ark, the Tower of Babel, 
etc., and should be presented to the scholars as the great 
stories of the Jewish people which were told to all of 
the boys and girls and handed down from generation 
to generation because they dealt with the great facts 
of God's creation, God's dealings with those 
who disobeyed Him, God's kindness toward and pro- 
tection of those who were loyal and faithful to Him. 
Every scholar should be made to realize that the boys 
and girls of the Jewish Nation grew strong in their 
faith and trust in God, because of these stories. 

The same methods of selecting material from var- 
ious sources are operative in this year's work as in 
the previous year.* 

* Suggested book for teachers: The Kings and Prophets. 
Teacher's Helps (Scribner). Price 80 cents. 

65 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

.... The memory work which 

IViomory Vvork 

should be completed during these 

two years is as follows : 

1. The Catechism through Duty to Neighbor. 

2. The Versicles in Morning and Evening Prayer. 

3. The Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc 
Dimitis, the Beatitudes and the Books of the Bible. 

This is the golden period for memory work. Some 
scholars will show great ability and should be pushed 
rapidly forward. Memory work should only be 
done in concert, with those things with which the 
entire class has familiarity. Beside the concert work 
there should be more or less individual work so 
that the capacity of each child may be considered. 
If this memory work is completed before the end 
of the two years, more should be added. Every 
intelligent teacher is able to select from the Bible, 
Prayer Book, and Hymnal, great passages that every 
child can profitably learn. It is taken for granted 
that at this time the children will go to Church and 
become familiar with the General Confession of Morn- 
ing and Evening prayer. 

In learning the Books of the Bible the Sunday 
School should be provided with an actual model of the 
Bible as a library. This model should consist of two 
cases, a long one and a short one. In the long one 
should be thirty-nine representations of Books of the 
Old Testament. In the short case should be twenty- 
seven representations of the Books of the New Testa- 
ment. Each should bear the abbreviation of its name. 
The teacher should place these in the case in disorder 

66 



The ReUgiovs Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

and the scholar should be asked to arrange them in the 
order of the Books of the Bible. 

There should be constant variety in the memory 
work. At one time some of the Bible taken from the 
Book itself, at another time some of the Prayer Book, 
at another time some of the Hymnal. None of these 
should be continuously used in the memory work. 

Suggested Prayers for Boyhood and Girlhood 

®od, my loving Father, who for my sake didst send 
Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to be a child here on earth, make 
me like Him to be good and kind, obedient, and brave. 
Help me to speak words that will please Thee. Keep me 
from doing things that are wrong. Be with me and take 
care of me and all my relatives and friends this day, for 
Jesus' sake. Amen. 

Father, I thank Thee for the night. 
And for the pleasant morning light; 
For rest and food and loving care. 
And all that makes the world so fair. 

Teach me to do the things I should. 
To be to others kind and good; 
In all I do, in work or play. 
To grow more loving every day. 

DAILY RESOLUTIONS 

1 resolve by God's help: 

( 1 ) To fight manfully against my besetting sin. 

(2) To do some kind deed for some one else. 

(3) To shun bad companions. 

(4) To try and help others by a good example. 

67 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

AT ANY TIME DURING THE DAY 

God bless all the missionaries all over the world and 
all the little helpers, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 

Almighty God, give me grace to trust to Thy never- 
failing care and love those who are dear to me, for this 
life and the life to come; knowing that Thou art doing 
for them better things than I can desire or pray for; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Almighty God, make me to hate that which is bad in 
thought, word, and deed; make me to love that which is 
good; make me to stand up for the right and true, as a 
brave soldier of Christ; and day by day make me a faithful 
member of His Kingdom, the Church; through the same. 
Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Grant, O Lord, that I may not be ashamed to confess 
the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under 
His banner against sin, the world and the devil, and to 
continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto my 
life's end. Amen. 

If any little love of mine 

Can make a life the sweeter; 
If any little care of mine 

Can make a friend the fleeter; 
If any lift of mine can ease 

The burden of another; 
God give me love and care and strength 

To help my toiling brother. 

EVENING PRAYER 

Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, Lord; and 
by Thy gieat mercy defend us from all perils and dan- 
gers of this night; for the love of Thy only Son, our 
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

68 



The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

ON COMING INTO CHURCH 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my 
heart be always acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my 
strength and my Redeemer. 

FOR THOSE AT SCHOOL 

O God, who knowest that we are not able to believe 
or do what is right without Thy special grace; Bless, we 
pray Thee, my work in school to-day; keep far from me 
all pride and covetousness, lust and anger, envy, sloth and 
idleness. Grant that those who teach may do it with 
earnestness and patience, as in Thy sight, and for Thy 
sake; and give to all Thy children a humble and teachable 
spirit; that all may learn more and more to love and 
serve Thee; and finally through that may come to ever- 
lasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

DECLARATION 

Teach me, O God, that my Duty toward Thee is to 
Believe in Thee, to Fear Thee and to Love Thee with all 
my Heart, with all my Mind, with all my Soul and with 
all my Strength: To Worship Thee, to give Thee Thanks, 
to put my whole Trust in Thee, to Call upon Thee: To 
Honor Thy Holy Name and Thy Word; and to serve Thee 
truly all the days of my life. 

During these two years it will be found that the 

work of the pilgrimages during the primary period will 

bear fruit. The children will at- 
Church Knowledge ^ i i i .^i ^ 

tend church with more or less 

interest and regularity and will desire to be shown how 
to find the places in the Prayer Book for the various ser- 
vices of the Church. They will also take pleasure in 
following the services and some will be glad to be 
shown where the Bible lessons may be found and will 
follow them if Bibles are provided in the pews. 

This is the time when the Christian Year should 

69 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

be explained at some length and the connection of the 
Collects, Epistles, and Gospels shown. 

Inasmuch as this is the period when the social in- 
stinct of the child is beginning to show itself, the cove- 
nanted relation between him and God which was 
formed in Baptism should be developed. Just as the 
child turns from the individual games and desires 
games where groups and teams must be formed, so the 
Church should begin to reveal to the child what it 
nxeans to be a member of Christ, the child of God 
and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. The 
following suggestions represent only a few of the many 
possibilities. 

The scholars should be reminded again and again 
of the sign of the Cross on their foreheads. They 
should be told that it is a badge of Church membership, 
that they wear it always, that it goes before them into 
every place and at all times, that they should seek 
never to dishonor it. The whole scene of their infant 
Baptism, when in their innocence and purity they were 
taken into the Church, should be called before them. 
Teachers have not begun to realize the opportunity 
furnished by this wonderful provision of the Church 
for helping boys and girls to keep to the highest path- 
ways at the age when they are decorating the lapels 
of their coats with badges of their school classes and 
their clubs, and when they are proud of the uniforms of 
scouts and campfire girls. It is a time for the Church 
to remind them that she has endowed them with a 
badge of matchless beauty and a uniform of power. 

Before the annual visitation of the Bishop for Con- 
firmi'.tion, an entire lesson period should be given to 

TO 



The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

the Confirmation service. The scholars should be re- 
minded that it is none too soon to begin to think of the 
day when they will go forward and receive the Bishop's 
benediction and the strengthening grace of Confirma- 
tion. The teacher might wisely be very definite and 
mention the number of years. 

Occasionally, on Sundays when the teacher has re- 
ceived the Holy Communion, he should refer to the 
fact and to the beauty and helpfulness of the Com- 
munion service and express the joy that will be in his 
heart when he can have them join him at the Com- 
munion rail. 

From time to time punctual and regular Church 
attendance should be presented as the duty of one who 
wears the sign of the Cross. 

At this age the annual Lenten Missionary Offering 
should be emphasized from the point of view of the 
scholar's joining in the great work of the Church 
throughout the world. Under the section of Christian 
Service it will be considered more at length, but it must 
not be forgotten that one of its greatest values is to 
stimulate in the heart of the young scholar a sacred 
pride in what his Church accomplishes in the world. 

In developing the devotional life of the scholars 
in these critical years many things must be kept in 

^ ,. . . ., mind. One is that there is pres- 

Devotional Life ^ , , . . . 

ent a deep seated egoistic inter- 
est. There is a sharp distinction between mine and 
thine which is sometimes misjudged as selfishness. 
The scholar is reaching out for exi)eriences and seeking 
for possessions, he is unconsciously enriching his life. 
Selfcentered is not too strong a word to use. Along 

71 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

with this it must be remembered that his reasoning 
power is not developed, that he is interested in de- 
veloping his character not by introspection but by 
conduct. He is watching what others are doing and 
imitating those acts and deeds which he admires. 

His devotional life then is largely under the in- 
fluence of imitation. What is done in his home, by 
his Sunday School teacher or by the people in the 
Church to whom he looks up — the rector, the wardens^ 
the leaders of guilds and clubs, has more influence in 
developing his devotional life than sermons, addresses, 
suggested readings, etc. 

The scholar now has an interest more in God's 
authority and power than in his fatherhood or love, 
therefore, prayers are said, the Bible is read, ritual 
acts are done more from the obligation of rule and 
law which he sees others obeying than from any mo- 
tive to which can be strictly given the term spiritual. 
The beginning of some of the highest spiritual motives 
takes place now, when the boy or girl of this age 
devotes himself heart and soul to older persons whom 
he imitates because he admires and loves. 

Fortunate is the Church and Parish that has so 
developed its people that there is radiating from the 
lives of the parishioners a light that reveals to sus- 
ceptible hoys and girls the presence of the religion 
which they have not the capacity to understand. 

Professor Coe says in his book. Education, Religion 
and Morals page 310-311: 

"The best teacher is one in whom the pupil feels 
the presence of religion as a concrete natural thing. 
The beet Sunday School teaching is an initiation of 

72 



The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

the pupil into sacred things, and initiation is a pro- 
cess of admitting one to a society of persons and fel- 
lowship. Many persons have been asked to say what 
in their experience as Sunday School pupils most 
influenced them for good. The reply, apparently the 
invariable reply, has been, the personality of the teach- 
er rather than the content of formal instruction. Noth- 
ing in the way of methods or advice can take the place 
of wholesome, winning personality that actually lives 
in the realities of the Christian experience and truly 
admits pupils into the fellowship of this life." 

The most important thing in the consideration of 
the devotional life of this time is to warn against an 
over-emphasis upon acts of devotion which are 
done because of rules instead of because of imitation 
and valuable example. The former creates a force that 
will eventually be destructive of valuable possibilities, 
the latter lays a foundation upon which the right de- 
votional structure can be reared. 

In these two years Christian Service should be 
introduced to the class by stressing certain great prin- 
ciples. During these two years 
Christian Service ^i ^ i f- i i i 1 1 

the teacher oi each class should 

see that the class as a class "goes into all the world." 
It should gain information of, and contribute to, defin- 
ite needs in the five following fields: 

(a) The local parish. 

(h) Some Churcli or phihintliropic institution in 

the city or town. 
(c) Some Church or phihmthropic institution in 

the state or diocese. 
{d) Some mission work in the United States: the 

73 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Indians, the colored, miners, struggling west- 
ern parishes, etc. 
(e) Some mission work in the wide world. 

The question of earning money and what money 
represents should be discussed and the class should be 
led by a series of reiterated instructions to recognize 
that their money liberates their power. They should be 
led to recognize that they must send their power over 
the whole world, beginning at their local parish. In 
developing this idea make every need wherever found 
concrete. Use pictures and always particularize; deal 
with a particular person even giving him a fictitious 
name if necessary, but place him in real conditions. 

Another principle which should be stressed at this 
time is the principle of team play. Make clear to 
the class that what each scholar could give does not 
amount to very much, but when it is joined with what 
the entire class gives and what the Sunday school and 
Church, and what all the Churches throughout the 
country give, then a large amount capable of accom- 
plishing great things is realized. 

In conclusion, in developing, in conducting or in 
training Christian Service, the effort from the point of 
view of the teacher must be, not primarily to enlist the 
sympathy of the children in any particular form of 
need, but rather in the two years' time to assist them 
to a broad, comprehensive outlook of the world of 
need and to find a method by which their small limited 
activities can be combined and great ends accom- 
plished. 

The class treasury which has already been men- 
tioned is readily seen to be essential in the carrying 

74 



The Religious Nurture of Boyhood and Girlhood 

out of this work. It permits a training of choice mak- 
ing and sacrifices that has unlimited possibilities. 
Every cent of money appropriated from the class 
treasury should stand for discussions in which con- 
flicting choices have been expressed. The class treas- 
ury becomes valuable at this age in so far as its con- 
tents represent the sacrifices of the members. 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
In Teachers' Meetings 

34. What scholars in the tenth and eleventh years can be 

expected to remain through the Senior Department? 

35. How many boys are there in our Sunday School who 

should enter the ministry? 

How many teachers are praying for them by 
name? 

36. Have the teachers of this age made and decided upon 

the number and the titles of the stories from the 
Old Testament which they will tell? 

37. Is there a sloyd class connected with the Church, com- 

petent to make the "model of the Bible as a Li- 
brary" ? 

38. Are prayer cards provided for the private devotion of 

scholars of this age? 

39. At some Teachers' Meeting discuss the educational 

value of the sign of the Cross on the forehead. 

40. Is an opportunity provided for teachers to exchange 

their experiences in reminding scholars of the value 
of Confirmation and Holy Communion? 

41. How far are the parishioners of our parish setting a 

good example of devotional life? 

42. Has one object in each of the "five fields" been se- 

lected for the instruction of the scholars? 
Have pictures been provided? 

76 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

If one of the objects is local, have the scholars 
paid it a visit? 

43. What are the possible methods in this parish by which 

scholars can earn money for the Class Treasury and 
the Lenten Offering? 

44. How is the Church training the scholars in sacrifice? 



76 



CHAPTER IV. 
Jesus Christ the Hero and Saviour 

(About the Twelfth Year.) 

The scholar is now approximately in his twelfth 
year. He has behind him all of the instructions of the 
previous years. He has reached what is considered the 
most important year in the Sunday School, inasmuch 
as he has arrived at the point when it is believed that 
the Life of Christ should be given to him with the clear 
purpose of presenting Jesus Christ not only as an 
example, but as a Saviour, because He provided the 
best methods for making the most of life. The growth 
of self-consciousness has now become very pronounced 
and the conflicts of the past have led the scholar to be- 
gin to estimate his own capacity for right doing and 
wrong doing. He is reaching up toward high ideals 
and longing to accomplish the best things. 

The heroic elements in the life of Christ, His won- 
derful capacity for seeing and doing the right thing. 
His power to obey His Father, these are the elements 
that are needed by the developing boy and girl and 
these are divinely provided in the life of the Master. 

The Life of Christ should be presented in periods 

77 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

like the groups of Old Testament stories. The follow- 

.. ^ . , ing simple outline is suggested: 
Lesson Material , „, t^ i. ^ ^ t 

1. The Boyhood of Jesus. 

2. Jesus and His Work. 

3. Jesus among People. 

4. The Last Week. 

5. The Risen Christ. 

As in the previous years not more than 25 or 30 
sessions should be devoted to His Life. For this ma- 
terial the teacher should turn to the many books recom- 
mended in the Curriculum that is selected for a 
guide.* 

The same methods in regard to teaching these les- 
sons should be observed, as recommended in the Old 
Testament courses. The work book, pictures, passages 
from the Scripture, should all enter into the teaching. 
In addition, inasmuch as the scholars have gained an 
ability to write, the teacher should require from time 
to time that certain stories be written out and brought 
for inspection and suggestions. The teacher must plan 
this course very carefully so that the scholars will gain 
the idea that in each of the five periods there is a be- 
ginning and an end. In a word, the course needs to 
move forward with a certain degree of rapidity and 
definiteness. Only such a niunber of stories should be 
selected as will enable the teacher to complete the 
course in the year. No one can estimate the harm done 
to Sunday School work at this time by a course so 
indefinitely planned that after a certain number of 



* Suggested book for teachers : The Life of Jesus. Chi- 
cago Press. Price 75 cents. 



Jesus Christ the Hero and Saviour 

lessons the scholar is confronted at the end of the year 
with an incomplete course. The object of the work 
must be to present to the mind of the child not all the 
details about the Life of Christ, but such instances 
as will make the scholars realize that He was a Hero, 
that He had a wonderful capacity for seeing and doing 
the right thing and power to obey His Father. These 
are the elements that will make the Life of Christ an 
asset in the scholar's personal life; these therefore are 
the objectives that must ever be in the mind of the 
teacher as he selects material and teaches the stories. 
The Memory Work of this year should center 
around the Life of Christ. The Catechism should be 

completed and the parts of it 

Memory Work • .i o 

concerning the feacraments ex- 
plained, especially in connection with their institution 
by the Master. 

The great Collects of the Festivals should be com- 
mitted to memory. The Collects for Christmas, the 
First Sunday in Lent, Easter, Ascension Day and 
Whitsunday, can lay the foundation for the scholar's 
conception of the divine side of our Lord's earthly life. 

Some of the great parables should be memorized, 
notably the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the 
Parable of the Sower. 

One of the successful methods of securing Memory 
Work at this time is to lay less stress upon concert 
work and more upon individual work. It has been 
found stimulating to assign certain passages weeks 
ahead to certain scholars, asking them to be ready on 
such a date to repeat their passages to the whole class. 

During this year great importance should be laid 

79 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

by the teacher upon the events of the Christian Year. 

^, , ., . While it is necessary to comment 

Church Knowledge , . , , , 

upon the special seasons and days 

as the year passes, it is even more necessary to give 
the scholar a comprehensive view of the whole cycle. 
This can best be done by a complete study of the sea- 
sons of the year. It is wise for a teacher at this time 
to take two or three Sundays either at the beginning, 
or better at the conclusion, of the course in the Life 
of Christ when the Christian Year may be presented 
as the method by which the Church directs us to lead 
our devotional life. 

In this year also the Creed should be referred to, 
not with the aim of explaining every sentence and 
word, but with the desire to answer any questions that 
may have risen in the mind of the scholar. If no 
questions have come forward, they should not be 
stimulated; instead the teacher should endeavor to 
show the close connection in life between conviction 
and activity, and reveal to the scholar the practical 
value of repetition of the Creed as an expression 
of the conviction which is to lead to loyal action for 
Christ. The kind of instruction on the Creed that 
is valuable in this period grows out of the recognition 
on the part of the scholar of the value of standards and 
symbols. He may well be asked "What is the value of 
the American flag? What is the value of the Con- 
stitution of the United States ?" — and from these points 
he should be led to see that the cross on the altar and 
the Creed on the lips of the people should be outward 
and visible signs of inward convictions and loyalty. 

In this year, at the time of the visit of the Bishop, 

80 



Jesus Christ the Hero and Saviour 

the class should consider again the subject of Confirma- 
tion, and with the teacher attend the service as a class. 

jSTo teacher at this period can successfully teach 
the Life of Christ without deepening the devotional de- 
sires and capacity of the scholar. 
The memorization of the Collects 
in the Prayer Book should not be simply for the pur- 
pose of an exercise of memory, but the scholar should 
be directed to use those Collects in his personal or 
private prayers. The subject of the Collects might well 
be used to open a consideration of the prayer life of 
the scholars. Little can be done in the investigation 
of the devotional life during the class period, but much 
can be done individually, walking to or from the 
Church, or during Sunday afternoon, or other oc- 
casions when the scholar is encouraged to call upon 
the teacher or the teacher makes an opportunity to 
be with the scholar. 

This is the age when every teacher should see that 
each scholar owns a Bible, Prayer Book and Hymnal, 
and the esprit de corps of the class should be built up 
by assigned passages from the Bible which the members 
of the class should read daily in their private devotions. 
There is at the present moment a Committee of the 
General Board of Religious Education at work upon 
a scheme of Daily Bible Readings for boys and girls 
of this age. It is generally felt that if the proper 
system of Bible readings can be secured the habit of 
daily reading in the Bible, which has done so much for 
so many thousands of people in the past, will be re- 
vived much to the benefit of the State and the Church. 

Now is the time to change some of the prayers of 

81 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

childhood to prayers suitable for young manhood or 
womanhood. The Collects of the Church and special 
prayers selected from manuals of devotion which are 
suited to the peculiar temptations and ambitions of 
the boys and girls of this period should be recommend- 
ed. The psirish is fortunate which has a rector who 
shows a deep interest in the prayer life of the boys and 
girls at this time by occasionally distributing small 
cards upon which have been printed the prayers that he 
has specially selected as applicable to the parochial 
situation. 

This is the appropriate moment in the religious 
nurture of the scholar to make clearly intelligent to 
him the value of the offering as an act of worship. 
The taking of a part of our worldly goods and giving 
it to the Lord's work is a sign of our desire to conse- 
crate the whole. The offering of not only money, but 
of time, to the work of the Church should be pre- 
sented and, from the same standpoint, that a gift of our 
time and our energy should mean to us that we thereby 
signify our desire to consecrate the whole of our time 
and our energy. 

I would like to contrast here the devotional em- 
phasis of this period with the devotional emphasis 
of the next period. Here our devotional train- 
ing centers from the study of the Lord's life. Its em- 
phasis should be on personal devotion to Him. Li the 
next period when the study will be of the establishment 
of the Church, of the acts of the Apostles and the work 
of the Church throughout the world in the performance 
of the mission, the devotional training should center 
in those great corporate acts by which one finds his 

82 



Jesus Christ the Hero and Saviour 

true place in the body of Christ and receives the power 
which that body gives. Many may feel that the empha- 
sis at this time should come on Confirmation and the in- 
struction in Holy Communion; personally I feel that 
this should be foretold in the period when we teach the 
Life of Christ but that the concrete instruction and 
preparation should come in the next period when we 
consider the formation of the Church and the value of 
her corporate life. 

In the training in Christian service in this import- 
ant year the teacher must build upon the foundation 

that has been laid in the two pre- 
Christian Service hm ^ i , ^^ 

vious years. Ine teacher s objec- 
tive during the two previous years was to show the five 
directions in which the efforts of a loyal Christian 
should continually find expression. 

Activity in the five directions should be kept up 
always, but in this year there should be emphasis upon 
the local needs. Just as our Lord confined Himself to 
the Land of Palestine, so the best results of the study 
of His life will be attained in the lives of scholars 
when that study is paralleled by an identification of the 
principles of His life of service with actual effort in the 
immediate field. 

The characteristics of the age are such that great 
joy is derived from corporate activity for the good of 
others. It is much easier to get two or three boys to 
visit a sick boy, than it is to get one boy, and it is 
still easier to get the visit made if the class sends 
by the two or three boys some gift as flowers, fruit or 
candy. 

The whole class will enter more enthusiastically in- 

83 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

to the support of the Junior Auxiliary or the Junior 
Brotherhood, or the Boy Scouts, or any of the Church 
organizations which make up the life of the parish, 
than if individual members are urged to join. 

Build up the esprit de corps of the class by getting 
the members to assume the responsibility of seeking 
those who are absent. 

The efforts of the whole class can be directed in 
the making and selling of articles to earn money for 
the Lenten offering; also the gathering of things that 
are of value to be sent in boxes or barrels to the 
Mission field.* 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
In Teachers' Meetings 

45. Has each teacher a clear outline of the life of Christ 

in his own mind before he begins to teach? 

Is the outline so concise that the scholar will 
remember it all his life? 

46. Has each teacher selected the Memory Work that must 

be done before the year is completed? 

47. What are the plans of the teachers of this grade for 

presenting the subject of Confirmation and Holy 
Communion ? 

48. Are we sure that every scholar owns a Prayer Book, 

Bible and Hymnal ? 

49. In what way are we connecting the Sunday School 

and the various parochial organizations? 

50. What plans are being made to bring about enjoyment 

of the Church Service? 



* See The Making of Modern Crusaders. Educational 
Department, Church Missions House. Price 20 cents. 



84 



CHAPTER V. 
The Church Knighting the Child 

(About the thirteenth and fourteenth years) 

When a scholar arrives at the thirteenth year if 
the historical character of Jesus Christ has become 
real to him his attention should be centered upon what 
resulted from the sacred life lived in the world. He 
is not only ready, but it is very necessary that he should 
be given, clearly defined ideas about the Church as the 
force left by Christ in the world for the bringing of 
His Kingdom. 

The prevailing characteristics of the scholar's life 
grow out of his increasing desire to find his particular 
place in the world. He is not doing this with a con- 
scious aim accompanied by study and reasoning, he is 
rather doing it because a growing and developing life 
all around him attracts him. The reason for this 
attraction is in the fact that he has a capacity for ex- 
perience in which he can have a larger part physically 
and emotionally, than he can intellectually. We mean 
by this that he can do things with his body and he can 
love and hate and worship and be sympathetic and 
choose, and show a large capacity for curiosity, but so 
far as harmonizing or systematizing all of his efforts 

85 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

he cannot nor will he find the ability until after adol- 
escence. 

With this chaotic condition and yet with a super- 
abundance of life fellow ship is the key-note in his 
development. He is glad to obey if others obey. He 
is happy in worship, lays a strong foundation for the 
future development of the ability to worship, if he 
is led by the worship of others. He will labor with in- 
dustry and with purpose, providing the sphere in which 
he labors is dominated by industry and purpose. His 
play will become a large factor in his development if 
it is guided by the right ideals. 

All this, and much more, should be very clear in 
the mind of the Sunday school teacher for it furnishes 
the reason for definite instruction in the foundation 
and organization of the Christian Church. The ob- 
jectives of the Life of Christ, which were presented last 
year, need to be closely connected with the objectives 
of the Christian Church, which is studied this year. 

It has been the habit of the Sunday School to spend 

considerable time on the study known as the Apostolic 

. . Church. It is a study that can 

Lesson Material r., 1 1 i ,. i 

profitably engage much time and 

energy, if one is seeking complete knowledge about the 

period ; but complete knowledge should not be the ideal 

now. The objective of the teacher should be to reveal 

to the scholar the organic life which grew out of 

Christ's teaching and training of the Apostles, that 

the Church might give Christianity to the world. St. 

Paul and all of the early Christian leaders, together 

with the great movements, should be presented in such 

a vivid way that they become real to the scholar. Local 

86 



The Church Knighting the Child 

color, rapidity of movement, incidents which quickly 
reveal characteristics, should be presented to the class. 
The group system of lessons should be continued. 
Not more than eight or ten lessons on the life of St. 
Paul should be given; encourage the scholars to treat 
him as they treat the lives of heroes and leaders in 
secular history. Present the other Apostolic leaders 
in a few lessons, and then having shown how the 
Churches were formed in the Apostolic days and what 
they accomplished, transfer the attention of the scholar 
to his local community and bring him to face clearly 
the question "How was my parish formed?". This 
will necessitate brief lessons on the history of the 
local Diocese and a brief but vivid description of the 
coming of the Church to America. 

The scholars, not the teachers, should gather all 
this information sought by directed investigations. 
They should be sent to local histories and class books 
should be made with pictures and stories of events. 
The historical relics of the local parish, such as pic- 
tures, silver, records, etc., should all be introduced. 
The parish should prepare, preserve and present to its 
scholars at this age, the stories of its early struggles 
and ambitions and sacrifices in order that there may 
be deposited in their minds the valuation which has 
been given to the Christian Church throughout the 
past, in not only the Apostolic Age, but in the lives of 
former parishioners in the very parish in which they 
are living. 

It is only by such methods that the developing life 
of the boy or girl can be brought to find a place in the 

87 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

developing life of the Christian Church of yesterday 
and today. 

It must be recognized that the suggestions above 
put a burden of considerable magnitude upon the local 
Church. There are some parishes today that know 
little about their history. This lack of knowledge is 
a clear evidence of lack of vitality in parochial life. 
The roots of the present and the promises of the future 
must be deeply set in the life of the past, and until 
the past and the present in the local parish are welded 
together in the mind of the scholar and he hears 
about them in the same way that he hears about the 
stories of his father's boyhood and the events in the 
lives of his grandfather and grandmother, the best 
foundations for developing the scholar into the corpo- 
rate life of the Church cannot be laid. 

On the basis of the above lesson material the course 
for the scholar in his fourteenth year should be con- 
structed. If he has been 
Fourteenth Year , i . ^ n ^ ^ - m> - 

brought to nnd himselt m 

the life of the Church which reaches from the Apostol- 
ic day to his local parish, he is now ready to be led 
into the fundamental purpose of the Church, which is 
to win the world and bring the Kingdom of God. This 
is the year when the whole period should be devoted 
to the study of the mission of the Church. By a series 
of biographical studies and by the use of maps the 
scholar should go with the Church over the world and 
see her conquering. The great biographies of mission 
history from St. Paul to the present should be studied, 
and such map work should be done as would cause the 
class to recognize that while part of the world is won 

88 



The Church Knighting the Child 

for Christ there is a large part waiting for the work of 
the Church of today. This knowledge should lead to 
the definite question "Wliat is the Church doing to- 
day?" and the class should be set to investigate and 
report upon the work done by the Church in world- 
wide, national, diocesan and local fields.* 

Here again it should be reiterated that a full knowl- 
edge is not the aim, but the teacher should so select 
material from the many stories provided, that he may 
create a few definite impressions and thereby lay the 
foundation for future study which shall command 
interest and attention throughout the entire life of 
the scholar. 

At the conclusion of this study of the lesson ma- 
terial of the Junior School, let the point be emphasized 
that the aim of the teacher should not be the giving of 
knowledge of Biblical and Church matters, so much as 
the creation of a thirst for knowledge which will send 
the scholar into his Church life with the determination 
to read and study all his life. 

One of the most serious criticisms to be made upon 
the educational methods of today is the fact that they 
do not breed educational humility in the mind of 
the scholar. Few teachers realize that they lay one of 
the best educational foundations when they frankly 
say to a scholar in response to a difficult question "I 
do not know the answer to your question ; I may never 
be able to give a complete answer to your question, but 
you and I can search and study for an answer and it is 



* Suggested books : Early Christian Leaders. N. Y. S. S. 
Winners of the World (Gardner). 

89 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

possible that that search and that study may make 
great demands upon our patience and perseverance 
for a number of years." 

If the Church of today could take a stand and pro- 
mote student humility, she would make as large a con- 
tribution to the educational situation as the promotion 
of student industry. 

The Memory Work when the scholar is in the thir- 
teenth and fourteenth years must be selected with 

„, , great care; it should be closely 

Memory Work , . i i , 

connected with the lesson mater- 
ial. Some of the great passages in the Epistles of St. 
Paul should be memorized, also the names of the twelve 
Apostles. 

The following divisions of the Acts of the Apostle 
might be memorized : 

1. The Church at Jerusalem. Acts, Chapters 1-8. 

2. The Spread of Christianity in Judea and Samaria. 

Acts, Chapter 8 to Chapter 11, verse 18. 

3. Spread of Christianity in Phoenicia, Cyprus, and An- 

tioch. Acts, Chapter 11, verse 19, to Chapter 12, 
verse 25. 

4. St. Paul's First Missionary Journey. Chapter 13 to 

Chapter 15, verse 35. 

5. St. Paul's Second Missionary Journey. Chapter 15, 

verse 36, to Chapter 16, verse 5. 

6. St. Paul's Third Missionary Journey. Chapter 18, 

verse 23 to Chapter 21, verse 16, 

7. St. Paul's Arrest at Jerusalem, Imprisonment at 

Caesarea, and Voyage to Rome. Chapter 21, verse 
17 to the end. 

This outline might profitably be enlarged with such 

detail as the teacher finds advisable to give to the class. 

90 



The Church Knighting the Child 

The Seven Events in the history of the American 
Church might be profitably memorized: 
1579 — The Book of Common Prayer used by Sir Francis 

Drake at the Golden Gate. 
1607 — The Landing of the first Churchmen at Jamestown. 
1784 — Consecration of the first Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Samuel 

Seabury, D.D. of Connecticut. 
1835 — The General Convention declared the whole Church 
to be a Missionary Society and elected the Rev. 
Francis L. Hawks. D.D., and the Rev. Jackson 
Kemper, D.D., to be Missionary Bishops. 
1865 — The Convention after the War when the Southern 
Bishops returned. The General Convention never 
recognized the division of the Church by the War. 
During the War the roll call of every General 
Convention began with Alabama. The Church was 
the one communion that was not torn by the civil 
strife. 
1907 — Three hundred years of Church life celebrated at 

Jamestown, Va. 
1910 — The General Convention reorganizes the Board of 
Missions and creates the General Board of Re- 
ligious Education, that the Church might fulfil 
more completely the Lord's command to "go" and 
"teach." 
To parallel the two above lists, a list of seven events 
of the history of the local parish might be formulated. 

If certain great passages in the Prayer Book have 
not already been learned, such as the General Con- 
fession and the General Thanksgiving, the Confession 
in the Communion Service and the Gloria in Excelsis, 
now is the time to urge them upon the scholar. 

In the second division of this course, when the 
scholar is in his fourteenth year, the prayers for mis- 
sions and some of the Mission Hymns might be 
selected by the class and memorized. 

91 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Throughout these two years the teacher's instruction 

on Church knowledge should center very much around 

^, , ., , . the Confirmation preparation. 
Church Knowledge ^, , , f. ^ r^ 

Ihe rectors plan lor Connrma- 

tion instruction should be clearly known and prepara- 
tion for, and close cooperation with that instruction 
should be given. If the scholars are not confirmed in 
the first of these two years, the teacher should see that 
the class attends the Confirmation as a body and he 
should hold before them the hope that next year the 
class would enter the Church as a class. 

Books concerning the ways and teachings of the 
Church should be read and studied. The members 
of the class should be questioned as to their ability to 
find places in the Prayer Book. The various services 
should be gone over and the teacher should be sure that 
they are understood. The members of the class at this 
time should be made to feel that they can ask any 
question about the Church Service or about the Church 
Life and be assured that they will receive an answer 
or that an answer will be ascertained for them. 

The pilgrimages of the earlier years can profitably 
be reviewed by taking the scholars into the Church and 
questioning them with the idea of ascertaining how 
much has been remembered. The chief value in the 
exercise is in the opportunity given for the scholars to 
ask question which would not be suggested otherwise. 

The study of Church architecture might profitably 
provide the material for one or tw^o lesson periods. 
Pictures of early Churches and the ruins of Cathedrals 
might become the reason for gathering together the 

92 



The Church Knighting the Child 

class on a week day night for profitable instruction and 
social enjoyment. 

All teachers and rectors who are giving this critical 
period of boyhood and girlhood careful study find that 
close contact with the boys and girls at this time, and 
thoughtful attention to their questions and interests, 
reveal more opportunities for instruction in Church 
Knowledge than there is time in which to give it."' 

At this age when the whole instruction is based 

upon incorporating the scholar into the Church life 

I ? -f emphasis should be placed upon 

all of the devotional acts by which 

the Church guides its members to find their place and 

power in the body of Christ. 

This is the time for laying the right foundation in 
the subject of prayer. Every teacher in the Church 
has placed upon him. by the Church the responsibility 
of encouraging the scholar at this time to ask ques- 
tions about prayer and to lead discussions on the 
subject of prayer. The scholar is peculiarly susceptible 
at this time to the knowledge that God is in him and 
that the life in the world is the life of a family in 
which sons and daughters cannot find true happiness 
unless they find themselves in the life of the family 
which means the life of the Father. 

From this point of view prayer should be developed 
as communion. The scholars should be led to know 



* Haiighwont's Ways and Teachings of flie Church, 
among other books, gives the teacher much material; also 
Church Study, published by the National Depository, Eng- 
land. 

93 



The Children's Challenge to the Chureh 

that wliile God like a father desires us to come to 
Iliiu with all our needs and wants and like a father he 
will relieve our needs and wants in aeeordance witli 
the best interests of His g:reat family life, so also we 
should lead the scholar to recognize that the most 
precious thing: in family life, most precious to the 
child as well as to the father, is not the asking for 
things that are needed, but rather the communion and 
fellowship of one member of the family with the father 
of the family. 

To give tlie scholars at this time a vision of w^hat 
it means to acquire the habit of opening one's individ- 
ual life to God in spiritual connuunion and medita- 
tion, to lay bare before the Father the misgivings and 
the misfortunes and tlic misdemeanors of the outwanl 
and inner life, and to experience the cleansing power 
and strengthening inspiration that comes from that 
connn\iniou, is to place upon the teacher and even upon 
some rectors a responsibility that is not realized, nuicli 
less practiced today. 

In addition to the idea of prayer which grows out 
of the conception of the family life of God there 
should be stressed at this time the thought "Not my 
will but Thine." This should not be done with too 
pious an emphasis. The subject should be opened in its 
most practical form. The scholars should be made to 
realize that God's family is governed by the great benc- 
tieient laws, that in the physical world, in science and in 
moral life there are laws that cannot be disobeyed; if 
tliey are disobeyed, one must suffer the penalties. The 
scholar should also be brought to recognize that these 
laws are innumerable, that God alone knows them all 

94 



Tlte Cliurcli Kniyliting Uie Child 

and that we come to know them only in so far as 
we f'ome to know God and His world; that the spir- 
itual attitude of man that is hroiight about by "Not 
my will, but I'hine" is the attitude which leads us most 
quickly to the knowledge of those laws of life which 
God would have us know. The state of humble recep- 
tivity is essential to communion with God. 

The third idea that should be stressed is the old 
idea of the Monks "To work is to pray." The scholar 
should have placed before him the conception that while 
it is necessary to kneel in prayer at certain times and 
to join others in great acts of devotion, yet prayer and 
communion are not to be limited to these times and 
these acts. Every piece of work done with a high 
ideal, and by that we mean the ideal of service to 
God and to man, every pure, invigorating and helpful 
form of play and recreation, has its devotional side 
and if entered into in the right spirit has its com- 
munion element which has been stressed above, and 
from a certain point of view is an act of worship and 
prayer. 

Throughout this critical period the scholars should 
be made to feel, both by frequent instruction and by 
individual direction, that they may apply to their 
rector for individual help in the perplexities and 
difficulties of their lives. Wise is the priest who gives 
much time to the boys and girls of this age. Let him 
begin an intimacy with them by joining in their or- 
ganized work and play. Out of this intimacy will grow 
causes for personal interviews. If he is faithful and 
earnest and sees in the scholar, in spite of all his faults 
and failings, what the Master saw in every child; the 

95 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

Kingdom of God, there will be not only an intimacy 
on matters that pertain to parish work and parish play, 
but also a spiritual intimacy which will lead the schol- 
ar to joyfully trust him with some of the deepest ques- 
tions and perplexities of his heart. 

In these days when many fathers and mothers are 
not living in close intimacy with their boys and girls, 
at this time when school life breaks parental intimacy, 
there is a big responsibility placed upon the priest by 
the Church; he must know and deal most carefully 
with the life of the scholar. The experience of 
some of the most devout Roman priests and Protest- 
ant pastors, as well as many priests in the Church, 
gives ample testimony to the strategic moment which 
exists for the Church in the devotional life of the 
boys and girls at thirteen and fourteen years of age. 

Far more important than many of the courses given 
in our Theological Schools at the present time would 
be a course by those priests who have had experience 
in the characteristics and possibilities of the devotional 
life of scholars at this age. This whole subject brings 
forward one of the great neglects of the Church. 

Suggested Prayers for this Age 

MORNING PRAYERS 

Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and Everlasting 
God, who has safely brought me to the beginning of this 
day; Defend me in the same with Thy mighty power; and 
grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any 
kind of danger; but that all my doings, being ordered by 
Thy governance, may be righteous in Thy sight; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

96 



The Church Knighting the Child 

most Holy Spirit, who dost dwell in the hearts of 
men; be with me at all times in Thy power and give me 
strength to resist sin and grow in grace. Forgive me for 
having disobeyed Thee so often in time past, and help me 
in my desire to follow Thy divine guidance in all things. 
Purify my soul and body, and fill my heart with the fire 
of Thy Holy love; for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 

ON COMING INTO CHURCH 

Lord, I am now in Thy Holy House, Thine Eye is 
upon me. Keep my thoughts from wandering. Help me 
to worship Thee with heart and voice and to listen humbly 
to Thy Holy Word, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

During these two years concrete interest in the 
five-fold fields of activity in the Church should be main- 
tained. In the first year when 
Christian Service ^i . ^ x- • ^\. £ 

the instruction is upon the lor- 

mation and organization of the Church at the time of 
the Apostles and in our own day, the emphasis can well 
be placed upon the local, the diocesan and domestic 
efforts of the Church. In the latter year when the 
emphasis is upon the missions of the Church, the at- 
tention can be centered upon the foreign field. Beside 
this interest in the five-fold field there should be an 
intelligent effort made to teach the personal and social 
duties as made clear by the Catechism and the Bible. 
"My duty toward My Neighbor" should be studied in 
detail. 

In addition to these general instructions on Chris- 
tian Service during the first year some opportunity 
should be sought to emphasize the importance of kind- 
ness to the weak and those who are invalids, also the 
importance of not looking down upon servants, the 

97 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

street vendor, the washerwoman, etc. In a word, there 
should be an emphasis on certain inherent values in 
every human life, regardless of station or occupation. 

At this age when there is apt to be a tendency 
toward thoughtlessness, the duty to the public should be 
stressed by such concrete illustrations as not pushing 
and crowding in public places, assisting in maintain- 
ing public order by cleanliness in the street and in 
public places, such as halls, railroad stations and trains. 
The close connection which should exist between a 
Christian manhood and womanhood, and courtesy and 
politeness, should be reiterated from time to time. 

In both of these years there should be active co- 
operation in gathering the Lenten offering. This 
might be done by making and selling articles, either 
in groups or classes, or by giving entertainments, etc. 

In the second year of this period when the scholars 
are studying foreign missions, there should be special 
emphasis placed upon helping those who are backward, 
especially of another race. The obligation which 
Americans have to the foreigners in their midst can- 
not be treated too definitely. The faults of the present 
generation can only be corrected in the coming genera- 
tion. The Church should take care that those who 
come under her nurture deal honestly and righteously 
with the foreigner and thereby win his respect for 
what he knows as a Christian land. Scholars by this 
time should be led to take part in plays that depict 
scenes in mission lands. They should be encouraged 
to collect magazines for hospitals, the sailors and those 
who work for the Church on the frontier. 

In both of these years a reading club should be 

98 



The Churcli Knighting the Child 

formed by the class. At tlie beginning of each year 
as many books should be bought as there are scholars 
in the class. A captain of the club should be ap- 
pointed, with the duty of so organizing the reading 
of the books that during the year every scholar in the 
class will have read all of the books. The value of 
this in developing class spirit, supplying materials for 
common conversation and the developing of the com- 
mon ideals which the books should express, cannot be 
overestimated. Lists of these books can easily be 
procured by applying to specialists in the work of 
Religious Education, or by application to officials in 
Public Libraries. 

■ Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
in Teachers' Meetings 

51. How far is each teacher studying the individual char- 

acteristics of his scholars? 

52. Why is there more "fellowship" with some scholars 

than with others? 

What is the remedy? 

53. Has the local history of our parish been prepared? 

Have events been found that will interest the 
scholars and make them realize the sacrifice that 
was present in the forming of our parish? 

54. What are some of the questions that are asked by our 

scholars of this age? 

How are we answering those questions? 

55. Can a committee be formed in our parish to make 

kodak pictures of the plant and all that is within 
it, for use in the course on Church Study? 

If our Church is too small and not beautiful, 
how can we get pictures of the most beautiful 
Church in the diocese? 

99 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

56. How far have the teachers of this age acquired the 

habit of spiritual communion and meditation? 

57. The subject of developing prayer life should be dis- 

cussed at one of the Teachers' Meetings. 

58. What can the rector and teachers do together to en- 

courage scholars to bring their difficulties to the 
rector ? 

59. Have the teachers of this age formulated a program by 

selecting the various objects which need the help of 
the scholars? 

Have photographs and models, maps, books, etc., 
been provided to make the program visible? 

60. Have Class Reading Clubs been formed? 

61. Has the list of scholars been made out, who should be 

confirmed next year? 



100 



CHAPTER VI. 
With the Church to the World Quest 

(The Seniors, age 15 to graduation.) 

The thoughts within the title of this chapter suggest 
the elements that must be present in the religious nur- 
ture of adolescence. The work of the Senior Depart- 
ment should center around two words "fellowship" and 
"responsibility." "With the Church" stands for fel- 
lowship; "to the world quest" stands for responsibility. 
The real question before the Church today in regard to 
adolescence, is not "How can we hold the adolescent?" 
but rather "How far can the Church give him a dem- 
onstration of genuine fellowship in the presence of 
immeasurable responsibilities ?" 

Full credit has not been given to the adolescent. He 
not only outgrows the present Sunday School program, 
but he outgrows the Church program. Boys and girls 
at this time disappear from Sunday School because 
they go to college, or they enter the business and work 
of life. They are called to a process that appeals to 
them as more important than any form of interest or 
activity held out to them by the Church. 

To most adolescents, the local parish does not sym- 
bolize a cause which is seeking to be victorious in the 

101 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

life of the community; they do not feel that it is a 
great dynamo sending the power of God's love into 
the community, cleansing and reshaping the commun- 
ity, and then reaching beyond the community into the 
uttermost parts of the world; instead they view the 
local parish as a convenience to which men and women 
give and go in accordance with inclination or senti- 
ment. 

It needs to be said in clear and distinct terms 
that the Church cannot expect to hold its young life 
when that life is putting forth its hands to take hold 
of the real things of the world, unless the Church is 
doing some of the real things of the world. In any 
parish where there is apostolic fellowship and an apos- 
tolic sense of responsibility for the winning of the 
world, there a strong Senior Department can be main- 
tained. 

In the above we have put our finger on at least 
one of the reasons why we find so few successful Senior 
Departments. We have in the Church a number of 
senior classes, where year by year much valuable teach- 
ing is done, but we have few efficiently organized Sen- 
ior Departments where there is an esprit de corps grow- 
ing out of a connected and progressive plan of work 
culminating in graduation. 

A little self-examination will disclose other limit- 
ations. Lacking a definite and progressive plan of 
study we have not appealed to the expectation and sense 
of achievement. Lacking a true valuation of the child 
life of the Church, we have failed to "shepherd" our 
boys and girls in their age of greatest need. In one 
school where an excellent card register of the scholars 

102 



With the Church to the World Quest 

was kept, a number of cards in one evening's investi- 
gation were thrown out with the words "gone to work" 
written across their faces. The attitude of the rector 
and superintendent was that the scholars were hope- 
less; "gone to work," did not sound a challenge to them. 
Another limitation is the firmly entrenched conviction 
that "what you learn in Sunday School wont help you 
to earn money." No test question brings more dis- 
couragement than : "Will Bible study help you to earn 
a living?" Ultimately the close relation between God's 
word and genuine success is seen by the scholars, but 
the discouragement comes from the readiness of the 
negative answer. 

All of these unfortunate conditions need to be 
faced squarely, for there is no chance for argument on 
the question : shall the adolescent be kept in touch with 
the educational life of the Church? The primary need 
is to know the elements of the problem, and by experi- 
mentation, which is one of the most reverend and ven- 
erable methods of learning the will of the Holy Spirit, 
ascertain the true methods. 

The treatment of the Senior Department that fol- 
lows is not put down with the same assurance that has 
been present in the making of previous suggestions. A 
study of the various diocesan and parochial curricula 
show no wide-spread agreement that any one course or 
any set of methods will surely promote the life of the 
Senior Department. 

Instead of attempting to further theorize on the 
subject of the senior work, in the following pages we 
will study what is. being planned and attempted in one 
concrete situation with the belief that such a study 

103 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

will at least, be suggestive to all rectors and Sunday 
School teachers who are anxious over their senior work. 

The parish in which this school is located has about 
300 communicants. The Sunday School numbers about 
250. The organizing of the school in Departments has 
been recent. 

Having decided that there should be a Senior De- 
partment meeting separately from the Junior and Pri- 
mary School and having its own superintendent, the 
next question was, who should be admitted to that De- 
partment? The division most quickly recognized by 
the scholars was that established by the public schools. 
It was decided that all scholars in the High School, 
and of those who did not attend school, all over four- 
teen years should be elegible for Senior membership. 
A study of the roll of the present school showed that 
there were about twenty scholars entitled to member- 
ship in the Senior school. A careful investigation of 
the losses to the Sunday School during the past three 
years was then studied with the result that forty-four 
scholars were discovered in High School or at work 
who had at sometime during the past three years been 
enrolled in the membership of the Sunday School. 
Committees of laymen and laywomen were formed 
and these names were distributed for the purpose of 
making personal investigations during the summer, 
with the hopes of reclaiming those lost scholars. 

When the Senior Department opened in the 
autumn, about thirty-five scholars responded to the 
carefully w^orded invitation which had been sent by 
mail to all who were entitled to membership. It was 

104 



With the Church to the World Quest 

found that nearly all of those who attended were en- 
rolled in the first two years of the High School. 

A careful study of the character and ability of the 
scholars showed that there were a few young women 
who were anxious to become teachers. As all of these 
were well advanced and had been faithful to Sunday 
School work, it seemed best to put them into a class in 
which they might receive instruction as to the method 
and materials of Sunday School teaching. The re- 
mainder of the scholars were studied with the desire to 
ascertain the number of groups that could be made 
so that there would be congenial companionship in 
each group. In the organization the guiding principle 
was not any system of study or determined classifica- 
tion of scholars, but the natural interest and groupings 
of the young men and women. 

In the detailed consideration of the work of re- 
ligious nurture in this school we will attempt to follow 
it by years. We will consider the plans and suggestions 
that w^ere worked out by the officers and teachers under 
the same five divisions that have been our guide: Les- 
son Material, Memory Work, Church Knowledge, De- 
votional Life and Christian Service. In each case we 
will give a summarized statement of the results of 
conferences hoping thereby to encourage rectors and 
teachers to similar discussions. 

The lesson material for the first year scholars was 
selected from the Introduction to the Bible for Teach- 
ers of Children, one of the 
Lesson Material ^ .• , ^^ ,- .^ 

constructive studies oi the 

L^niversity of Chicago Press. The use of the word 
''Children" in the title of this valuable book is mis- 

105 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

leading. The best results can be obtained when it is 
used with boys and girls over fourteen years of age. 
Not all of the material recommended in this book was 
used in the classes. Some lessons were outlined to be 
worked out at the scholars' leisure. 

The lesson material for the second year scholars was 
centered around a study of Church History. Copies of 
The History of Christianity (Gardner) were provided 
and the teacher supplemented this material by readings 
in Cutts' Turning Points of Church History and Dear- 
mer's Everyman's History of the Church of England. 

The work of these two courses consisted in the study 
of characters in the light of periods of history. Five 
general questions were put forward to be in the minds 
of both teachers and scholars during the progress of 
the course. The questions were as follows: 

What were the characteristics of his time? 
How did the times influence his work? 
How did he influence his times? 
What was his best contribution? 
In what way was he God's servant? 

There are some advantages in this arrangement of 
studies for the first two years of the Senior School. 
If it be true that the controlling factor in the scholar's 
life at this time is a thirst for self- development in order 
to contribute something of value to life, if he is seeking 
to test his spiritual and mental powers just as he tests 
his physical powers, it is helpful to give him the great 
movements of the development of Biblical and Chris- 
tian History from the point of view of men trying to 
serve their times. It is only by such method that we 
can lead our boys and girls to the realization that their 

106 



With the Church to the World Quest 

religion helps them to be of use in the work of the 
world. 

Again, two courses like those outlined above, form 
a basis for what might be termed "elective work" the 
last two years before graduation. We should serious- 
ly consider the gain that might be made if we would 
provide electives for the last two years of Sunday 
School, thereby stimulating scholars to make choices 
of certain courses that would mean the most to them 
before they graduate from Sunday School. Here would 
be a chance to offer many of the interesting Senior 
Courses which have been prepared and might be pre- 
pared. The following are some of the titles: 

The Elements of Religious Pedagogy. Pattee. 

Community Study. Wilson. 

The Epistles of the "New Testament. N. Y. Sunday School 

Commission. 
The Challenge of the City. Josiah Strong. 
A Detailed Study of the Persecutions. 
History of the American Church. 
Some of the many Mission Studies. 
For other books see Appendix A. 

Inasmuch as there has been little training in Mem- 
ory Work since the Catechism days, it was felt too 

late to press the importance of 
Memory Work ^, . ^ ^^ t • • <• i 

this valuable division of work. 

It was considered that to give Memory Work to boys 
and girls who had returned to the Sunday School after 
having drifted out, would be to discourage and possibly 
prevent the development of lines of work more import- 
ant at this particular time. 

The following statements in italics are some of the 
aims held before the teachers for their guidance in 

107 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

giving church knowledge and directing the devotional 
life and Christian service. 

There must he carefully planned instruction hy the 
teacher on the meaning and value of the sacraiment of 

^, .. ., , . Holy Communion. With the ad- 
Church Knowledge , , ^ ,. , . . 

olescent the value oi this instruc- 
tion will depend upon the amount of fellowship that is 
present in the parish. Little can be accomplished by 
the gift of books of devotion, or by instructions on the 
Holy Communion, unless the adolescent sees that the 
sacrament is a real asset in the lives of the men and 
women in the parish. The teacher's informal testi- 
mony of the value of the Holy Communion in the time 
of grief, at the commemoration of a birthday, as a 
preparation for one's wedding, as a help in time of 
temptation, will do more to make the sacrament an 
asset in the scholar's life than books and formal in- 
structions. There should be regular and frequent cor- 
porate class or Department communions, when special 
intercessions are made. 

Personal testimony of the teacher on the value of 
the Church's rule for her people, is the form of in- 
struction that has the most power. Daily prayer, Bible 
reading, alms giving, the days of abstinence and the 
great festival days must be all presented, not from the 
point of view that the Church puts forth a rule to be 
obeyed, but rather from the point of view that she 
stands ready to lead one into the Holy of Holies. 

The value of the apostolic ministry must be dis- 
cussed and a frank and sympathetic comparison made 
with the ministry of the Christian communions. 

108 



With the Church to the World Quest 

The apportionment plan as authorized by the Board 
of Missions, must be presented repeatedly until the 
scholars understand that it stands not simply for a 
method of collecting money, but that it also is the 
Church's way of distributing responsibility and giving 
to each his share in the promotion of the Church's work 
throughout the world. 

The estahlishment of a "Sunday School Vestry/' 
a kind of executive committee made up of a represent- 
ative from each class, to have charge of the affairs of 
the school. They will discuss the school welfare, recom- 
mend appropriations of money, appoint committees for 
picnics and social events, and determine upon forms of 
investigation and work which could be carried on in 
the community or in the diocese. 

This method cannot be too highly commended. The 
Senior school should train the wardens and vestrymen 
of the future and no better method can be developed 
than making the Senior boys and girls responsibile for 
the self-government of the Sunday School. 

At the time of the regular meetings of the Diocesan 
Convention and the General Convention of the Church, 
the important questions discussed by those bodies, 
must be introduced into the Senior Department of the 
Sunday School, and brief descriptions of the purpose 
and method of the Convention should be given. 

Provide the scholars with prayers and declarations 

and forms of self-examination which are suited to the 

^ ^. , . ., peculiar temptations of their 

Devotional Life 

ages. Show the close connection 

that can be made between the beautiful statements in 
the Collects and particular sins and temptations. 

109 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

All teachers should try to establish as intimate 
contact as possible with the scholars, in order that the 
moving currents of their Devotional Life may be ascer- 
tained. 

Discuss God's call to a vocation. Every priest who 
has had intimate contact with boys and girls at this 
time, testifies that one of the most serious questions 
is "To what task does God want me to give my life?" 
Also it has been determined that the desire to be an 
example to others is very real at this time. The boy 
or girl may be blase when faced with this desire, but 
it belongs naturally to the development of self valua- 
tion and should be used in the nurture of the religious 
life. 

A devotional thought which should be clearly pre- 
sented is that God is waiting for soldiers and servants 
in His cause. The adolescent, anxious to take respons- 
ibility, does not always find his most intimate connec- 
tion with God from the point of view of divine help 
given to him. If the Church will give him an idea 
of the divine grace that comes when he helps God in 
His work, she will more effectively appeal to him and 
lay a foundation for a future conception of divine 
grace that will become more and more of an operating 
force in his life. In the next section when we give 
definite suggestions for Christian Service, this point of 
view should be kept ever uppermost, that every program 
prepared for the betterment of the community, for the 
saving of the world, offers an opportunity for the schol- 
ar to help God in His work of mankind's redemption. 

Definite instruction on temperance and purity. 
Every leader in Senior work should keep in close 

110 



With the Church to the World Quest 

touch with the temperance movement and the move- 
ment for the teaching of sex hygiene, by reading at 
least one book on each subject. The subject should 
be considered not from a physiological standpoint, but 
from a spiritual standpoint. There should be ever 
in mind the thought "The temple of God is holy ; which 
temple ye are.'' The consecration of the eye and the 
hand and the lip, the control of thought, word and 
deed, should be presented as the opportunities when 
God gives divine grace to those who ask, and causes 
those who seek to find. 

As the Department meets in a separate room, has 
a separate superintendent, and separate opening and 

^^ , ,. ^ . closing exercises, the class treas- 

Chnstian Service % i , i -r^ 

ury plan was replaced by the De- 
partment Treasury and all needs and requests for 
Christian Service were presented to the Department as 
a whole. A Committee worked out the following pro- 
gram of opportunities for service. 

1. Needs of the Local Hospital. 

2. Needs of the Day Nursery. 

3. Needs of the Church Mission of Help. (A New York 

Organization for the assisting of unfortunate young 
women. ) 

4. Needs of St. Augustine's School, Raleigh, N. C. 

5. Needs of the Trade School, Icliang, China. 

Commitees from the school will be set to studying 
the above objects, and will report to the school and make 
recommendations. Occasionally, the regular lesson will 
be given up and the district visiting nurse, the head 
nurse of the hospital, the local Y. M. C. A. secretary 
and the Diocesan missionary will be introduced and re- 
quested to make definite appeals. During the year 

111 



The Children s Challenge to the Church 

there will be one Sunday when the program will be 
given over to Community Study. Reports will be made 
on school conditions, play grounds, and on the ques- 
tion of local poverty. At election time the Christian 
obligation of voting will be discussed. 

This program should be varied from year to year so 
that in the four years that the scholar is normally in 
the Department he will have brought before him a 
large variety of causes about which he will learn and 
to which he will give aid. 

Another form of Christian Service which should be 
constantly presented to the Senior Department with 
some definiteness is the dependence of the local Church 
life upon the efforts of each individual. Not only 
should the senior scholars be organized to pay a debt 
or to raise money, but the deeper problems of the 
Church should be presented, such as, 
The scholar's responsibility in increasing the membership 

of the Church. 

The responsibility to set an example to the younger mem- 
bers of the school. 

The responsibility to assume leadership in the clubs and 
guild work for younger scholars. 

The responsibility to maintain a normal class from which 
Sunday School teachers may be recruited. 

Throughout the four years of this Department, the 
need of the Church for ministers, teachers, physicians, 
deaconesses, parish visitors and nurses should be pre- 
sented and consecration to the Church's service urged.* 



See Appendix, Page 129, "Training Children to Serve." 

112 



With the Church to the World Quest 

Questions for the Discussion of the Chapter 
in Teachers' Meetings 

62. Have we accounted for every scholar who has left the 

Sunday School during the past three years? 
Have we a carefully kept card register? 

63. What does our parish contribute to our community? 

64. What can our Sunday School do to make our com- 

munity better? 

65. What are the difficulties that prevent us from having 

a normal class in the Sunday School? 

66. What are the values of and objections to "elective 

studies" in the Senior Department? 

67. Are all our teachers regular at the Holy Communion? 

68. What is their opinion of the Church's rule for her 

people? 

69. Have they a correct idea of the value of the Apostolic 

Ministry? 

70. Do our teachers know what their scholars "want to 

be"? 

71. What shall be our program for Christian Service this 

next year? 



113 



CHAPTER VII. 
Conclusion 

In the foregoing pages detailed description of 
methods has been very much abridged, both on account 
of space and because the diversity of circumstances 
make the details of the application of principles most 
variable. 

One of the most pertinent questions that has been 
asked concerning the Christian Nurture Course is 
"How can you apply it to the small school?" The an- 
swer is that the size of the school does not change the 
needs of the individual scholar. The rector of the 
small school as well as the rector of the large school, 
has placed upon him the task of putting before the 
child in the various stages, those methods of Religious 
Nurture which belong to the various periods of the 
child life. In the small school it may happen that 
there are only ten scholars with ages varying from 
nine to fourteen. This situation means that the teach- 
er of that group must study the methods and material 
which make up the educational requirements for those 
various ages, and select that material and those meth- 
ods which will accomplish the largest number of ends 
that can be attained. 

If the preceding pages have shown the possibility of 

114 



i 



Conclusion 

a more definite statement of the responsibilities of 
Religious Nurture, if they have encouraged rectors and 
teachers to a greater intimacy with scholars, if they 
have made insistent the need for more time and better 
teachers in religious education, if they have shown 
that successful Religious Nurture depends upon sacri- 
fice and that Church loyalty can only be attained by a 
more searching inquiry into the religious experience 
of those within the Church, they have accomplished 
their purpose. 



115 



PART III. 
Appendix 



APPENDIX A. 

The following is the Lesson Material recommended 
by the Diocese of Connecticut for promoting the 
Standard Curriculum of the General Board of Relig- 
ious Education. 

Diocese of Connecticut 

Tabulated Statement of Primary Lesson Material.* 



GRADE 


SUBJECTS 


AND AGE 


FOR STUDY 


Beginners 


Simple 


or 


Bible 


Kinder- 


Stories. 


garten. 


Stories of 


A 


Children 


Age 4. 


of the Bible. 




Elementary 




truths as 




children can 




receive 




them 



SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 



"A Year of Sunday School Lessons 
for Children," Palmer (53 topics), 
75c. Picture cards 90c. per hun- 
dred, or Perry Pictures. (U) 

''Sunday Kindergarten, Game, Gift 
and Story," Ferris, 2 years, $1.25. 
Permanent Equipment (blocks, 
etc.), $1.00. Temporary Equip- 
ment (sewing cards, etc.), 35c. 
(U) 

"Beginners' Stories," First year, 



* The following abbreviations arc used in the several lists : 

(U) University of Chicago publications. 

(/) International Graded' Series, published by Pilgrim Press, 
Boston. 

(B) Blakeslee Series, published by Chas. Scribner's Sons, 
New York. 

(B.g.) Blakeslee Graded Series, published by Chas. Scribner's 
Sons, New York. 

{N) New York Sunday School Commission Series, 416 La- 
fayette Street, New York. 

Books unmarked may be obtained through any bookseller. 

Teachers' material is shown in italics. 



119 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 



GRADE 
AND AGE 


SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 






30c. Teachers' Manual, $1.00. 
Picture Cards 12x15, $2.50. (Use 
optional.) (/) 


Beginners 
or 
Kinder- 
garten. 

B 
Age 5. 


The same 
as above 


"Bible Stories Illustrating the 
Lord's Prayer," Mrs. E. P. Hast- 
ings, Washington, D. C. Pictures. 

"A Second Year of Sunday School 
Lessons for Children," Palmer, 
$1.25. Pictures 90c. per 100, or 
Perry Pictures. (U) 

''Kindergarten BiUe Stories," Cra- 
gin. Old Testament, $1.25. New 
Testament, $1.25. 

"Beginners' Stories," Second year, 
30c. Teachers' Manual, Second 
year, $1.00. (/) 


First Year. 
Age 6 


Bible 

Stories, 


''Bible Stories Illustrating the 
Creed," Mrs. E. P. Hastings. 
Pictures. "Primary Stories," First 
year, 24c. Primary Teachers' Text 
Book, $1.00. (/) 

"Bible Lessons for Little Begin- 
ners," Cushman Havens. Vol. I, 
70c. Pictures. 

"Sunday Story Reminders," 40c. 
"Child Religion in Song and 
Story." (The Child in his 
World), Chamberlain & Kern, 
$1.25. (Z7) 

"God the Loving Father Preparing 
a Home for His Children," (cards 
for coloring). In preparation. 
Teachers' Manual. (B.g.) 

"Bible Truths and Stories," or "Old 
Testament Story Lessons." 30c. 
Teachers' Manual, 40c. (B) 


Second 
Year. 

Ag« 7. 


Bible 
Stories. 


"Bible Stories on the Ten Com- 
mandments," Mrs. E. P. Hastings. 
Pictures. "Primary Stories," Sec- 
ond year, 32c. Primary Teachers' 
Text Book, $1.00. Pictures (op- 
tional), $1.50. (/) 

"Bible Lessons for Little Begin- 
ners," Cushman Havens. Vol. II, 
70c. Pictures. 

"Sunday Story Reminders," 40c. 



120 



Appendix A 



GRADE 
AND AGE 


SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 






"Child Religion in Song and Story," 
(Walks with Jesus in His Home 
Country). Chamberlain & Kern, 
$1.25. (C7) 

"God's Loyal Children (cards for 
coloring), 27c. Primary Teachers' 
Helper, 45c. (B.g.) 

"Gospel Truths and Stories," or 
"Stories about Jesus," 30c. Pri- 
mary Teachers' Helper, 40c. {B) 


Third 
Year. 
Age 8. 


Bible 
stories. 


Illustrated Lesson Cards. Joint 
Diocesan Series, 12c. per year. 
American Church Sunday School 
Magazine. Geo. W. Jacobs & Co., 
$1.50 per year. 

"Primary Stories." Third year. 
Primary Teachers' Text Book. 
Third year. (/) 

"Love^ Life and Light for God's Lit- 
tle Children," M. Wilson, $3.00. 
"Jesus' Way of Love and Service" 
(cards for coloring), 36c. Primary 
Teachers' Helper, 60c. (B.g.) 

"New Testament Truths and Sto- 
ries," or "Stories about the Apos- 
tles," 30c. Primary Teachers' 
Helper, 40c. (B) 



Tabulated Statement of Junior Lesson Material. 



GRADE 

AND AGE 


SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 


First Year. 
Age 9. 


Old 
Testament 
Biography. 


"Hero Stories of the Old Testa- 
ment." First year. Young Church- 
man Co., 14c. (N) 

"Early Heroes and Heroines," H. 
B. Hunting, 80c. (B) 

"Old Testament Stories." First year. 
Josephine L. Baldwin, 36c. (/) 

"The Old Testament Story," W. H. 
Bennett. Macmillan, 60c. 

Teachers' Manual for Hero Stories. 
First year, 50c. (N) 



121 



Tlie Children's Challenge to the Church 



GRADE 
AND AGE 



Second 

Year. 

Age 10. 



SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 



Old 

Testament 
Biography. 



Third 

Year. 

Age 11. 



Stories 
from the 

Life of 
Our Lord. 



SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 



The Junior Teacher, H. B. Hunting, 

$1.00. (B) 
Teachers' Text Book, Josephine L. 

Baldwin, $1.00. (/) 

'On Holy Ground." O. T. Vol. 

Wm. L. Worcester. Lippincott. 

$1.50. 



"Hero Stories of the Old Testa- 
ment." Second year. Young Church- 
man Co., 15c. (N) 

"Kings and Prophets," 80c. (B) 

"Old Testament Stories." Third 
year. 40c. (7) 

"Heroes of Israel," T. G. Soares, 
$1.00. (J7) 

"The Old Testament Story," W. H. 
Bennett. Macmillan, 60c. 

Teachers' Manual for Hero Stories. 
Second year, 50c. (N.) 

Junior Teacher for Kings and 
Prophets, H. B. Hunting, 60c. 
iB) 

Junior Teachers' Text Book, Jose- 
phine L. Baldwin, $1.00. (/) 

Teachers' Manual for Heroes of 
Israel, T. G. Soares, $1.00. (U) 
On Holy around." O. T. Vol. 
Wm. L. Worcester. Lippincott, 
$1.50. 



"Life of Jesus Christ," Junior His- 
torical, 21c. Teachers' Manual, 
65c. CM) 

Junior Bible "Life and Works of 
Jesus," Teachers' Manual. (B.g.) 

"Life of Jesus," Gates, 50c. Teach- 
ers' edition, 75c., 42 lessons. {U) 

"Stories about Christ," or "Gospel 
Stories," 30c. Junior Teacher, 
40c. (5) 

"What Manner of Man is This?" 
(For Boys), Murray, 40c. 19 les- 
sons. 

"Constructive Studies in the Life 
of Christ." (/) 

"Our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ," E. Hobson. (London 
Diocesan.) 



122 



Appendix A 



qra.de 

AND AGE 


SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 






"New Testament Story," W. F. 
Adeney. Macmillan. 60c. 


Fourth 

Year. 

Age 12. 


Personal 
and Social 

Duties 
taught from 

the 

Catechism, 

Illustrated 

from the 

Bible. 


"Christian Life and Conduct," 40c. 
Bible Study Manual, 60c. (B.g.) 

"The What and Why of Confirma- 
tion, C. L. Pardee. Church Litera- 
ture Press, N. Y. lie. 

"Catechism, Faith and Action." 
Lester and Wainwright. (Lond. 
Dioc. ) 50c. 

"Catechism, Prayer and Sacra- 
ments," Morley Stevenson. (Lond. 
Dioc.) 50c. 


Fifth 

Year. 

Age 13. 


Missions 

of the 

Church. 


"Winners of the World" (Gardner), 
30c. 

"The Conquerors of the Continent." 
(Board of Missions.) 25c. 

"Spirit of Missions." 

"Heroes of the Faith," 40c. Teach- 
ers' Manual, 60c. (B.g.) 



Tabulated Statement of Senior Lesson Material. 



GRADE 
AND AGE 


SUB.JECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 


First Year. 
Age 14. 


Advanced 

Study of 

Life of Our 

Lord Jesus 

Christ. 


"Life of Jesus Christ, the Messiah," 
20c. Teachers' Manual for same, 
50c. (N) 

"Teachings of Jesus Christ, the Mes- 
siah," 20c. Teachers' Manual for 
same, 50c. (N) 

"Life of Christ," Burgess. 

"Life of Christ," Forbush, 60c. (B) 


Second 

Year. 

Age 15. 


History of 
the Church. 


"History of Christianity," Gardner, 

50c., 34 lessons. 
"Making and Life of the Church," 

Shayler, 13c. 



123 



TTie Children's Challenge to the Church 



OBADE 
AND AGE 


SUBJECTS 
FOR STUDY 


SUGGESTED 
TEXT BOOKS 






"Everyman's History of the Church 
of England," Percy Dearmer, 40c. 

"Three hundred Years of American 
Christianity," Dean Hodges, 25c. 


Third 

Year. 

Age 16 


Christian 
Doctrine. 


"Episcopal Church : Its Doctrine, 
Ministry, Discipline, Worship, and 
Sacraqjents," Dean Hodges, 50c. 
and 25c. 

"Bible Lessons on the Creed," C. H. 
Hayes, 5c. Teachers' Helps for 
same, 75c. The Young Churchman 
Co. 


Fourth 

Year. 

Age 17. 


Stories of 
the Hebrews. 


"Old Testament History," 22c. 
Teachers' Mamial for same, 50c. 

(^) 

"Leaders of Israel," 50c. Teachers' 
Text Book, 60c. (/) 

"Old Testament History," or "Patri- 
archs, Kings, and Prophets," 30c. 
Bible Study Manual, 40c. (B) 

"Preparation for Christianity" (Re- 
ligion of the Old Testament), 48c. 
Senior Teacher, 60e, (B.g.) 

"Prom the Exile to the Advent," 
Smith, 20c. 15 lessons. (N) 

''From the Exile to the Advent," 
Fayerweather, 60c. 

"Studies in Old Testament History 
and Prophecy," C. D. Gray. (U) 

"The United and Divided King- 
doms," 2 Vol., Kent. 



124 



APPENDIX B. 

The Very Rev. Chas. Smith Lewis, Editor of the 
Sunday School Department of The Living Church and 
Dean of All Saints' Cathedral, Indianapolis, Ind., has 
prepared four schedules of text books to meet four 
different circumstances in applying the Standard Cur- 
riculum. They are as follows: 

I.— Old Fashioned Question and Answer Books 

Grade I. For the Primary Department there are very 
few books of this class, and almost none follow the lines of 
the Standard Course. Perhaps as satisfactory a selection 
as could be made would be the Joint Diocesan Primary 
leaflet. We would suggest, in addition to the telling of 
Bible stories, simple lesson books for this department. 

(Srrade II. Church Teaching for Little Ones. Miss Tew. 

Grade III. A New First Catechism and the Gospel 
Story, A Second Catechism. By a Clergyman's Wife. 

Grade IV. Tissot Series of Church Lessons: Old Testa- 
ment. 

Grade V. Practical Question Book on the Bihle. Miss 
Robinson. 

These two courses are not quite along the lines of the 
Standard, and the former needs expanding, as it is too 
short. 

Grade VI. Tissot Series of Church Lessons: Life of 
Christ, 8aA)ings of Christ. These two should be combined in 
proper order. 

126 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Grade VII. Church Catechism Explained. By Two 
Priests. 

There are no text books for the Personal and Social 
Duties alone, and this explanation of the Catechism is in- 
troduced as a substitute. 

Grade VIII. Winners of the World (Gardner), followed 
by Ways and Teachings of the Church (Haughwout). 

Grade IX. Questions on the Life of Christ. Miss Rob- 
inson. 

Grade X. Catechism of Church History. C. E. Gardner. 

^rade XI. Doane Manual of Christian Doctrine, Senior 
Grade, or Definite Church Teaching. Healy. (Mowbray.) 
This last is a strong setting forth of the Catholic Faith. 

Grade XII. Systematic Bible Study. Miss Robinson. 

Alternates for Grades VI. and IX. can be found in the 
leaflets as published by Jacobs, and set forth by the Joint 
Diocesan Committee. 

In suggesting the above schedule, let it be said again 
that it is only as a help to those who cannot use the newer 
books and that it is distinctly to be remembered that it is 
meant for use along with the other material of the cur- 
riculum. 

IL— Modern Source- Method Books of a 
Churchly Character 

Primary Department, ©rades I. -III. Love, Light, and 
Life. Mabel Wilson. A new book by Miss Murray of St. 
Mark's Sunday School, Evanston, 111., has just been issued 
from the press of The Young Churchman Co. Teachers 
will find in this the best guide for these years. The title is 
Handbook for Primary Teachers in Church Sunday Schools. 

Grades TV. and V. Hero Stories of the Old Testament. 
Years 1 and 2. (N. Y. S. S. Com.) 

Grade VI. Junior Life of Christ. (N. Y. S. S. Com.) 

Grade VII. Christian Ethics for Younger Children. 
(N. Y. S. S. Com.) Bible Lessons on Christio/n Duty. 
Hayes. 

126 



Appendix B 

Grade VIII. Winners of the World. Gardner. To 
which should be added Ways and Teachings of the Church. 
Haughwout. 

Grade IX. Senior Life of Christ. (N. Y. S. S. Com.) 
Lord and SaA)iour Jesus Christ. Hobson. This is one of 
the English books. 

Grade X. Manual of Instruction in Church History. 
Shinn. When published, the N. Y. S. S. Com, new volume 
on Church History. 

Grade XI. The Children's Heritage. Oakley (S. P. 
C. K.). Definite Church Teaching, Healy (Mowbray). 

Grade XII. History of Old Testament Times. N. Y. 
S. S. Com. 

For the volume on Missions, Mr, Gardner's lessons in 
The Young Churchman Missionary Magazine could be sub- 
stituted. 

Ill-Selection of ''Liberal Books 

These are not written for Church schools, and do not 
therefore take the Church standpoint, and can only be used 
in our schools with care and constantly remembering their 
position. 

Grades I.-III. Pilgrim Press Series, or the Bible Study 
Union Series (Scribners). In some ways the former are to 
be preferred. 

Grades IV. Junior Bible, Early Heroes and Heroines. 
Bible Study Union. 

Grade V. Kings and Prophets. Bible Study Union. 

Grade VI. Life and Words of Jesus. Bible Study 
Union. Life of Jesus. Gates (Chicago Univ. Press.). 
Both of these must be used with great caution from the 
doctrinal side. 

Grade VII. Christian Life and Conduct. Bible Study 
Union. 

Grade VIII. 

Grade IX. Life of Christ. Burgess (Chicago Univ. 
Press). 

127 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 

Grade X. Landmarks in Christian History. Bible Study 
Union. 

©rade XI. 

Grade XII. Studies in Old Testament History. Gray 
(Chicago Univ. Press). 

IV.— English Manuals 

Grades I.-II. New Methods in the Junior SundoA/ 
School. Hetty Lee (National Depository). 

©rade III. God's Love and Care. Kirschbaum. Lon- 
don Manual (Longmans). 

Grade IV. Harden Manual, Grade I. Old and New 
Testament Stories. 

Grade V. Ma/rden Manual, Grade 11. Old and New 
Testament Stories. 

Grade VI. Harden Manual, Grade III. Life of Christ. 

€rrade VII. Catechism: Faith and Action. Lester. 
London Manual (Longmans). 

Grade VIII. There is no book in the English Series 
covering this topic. Mr. Gardner's book or his lessons in 
The Young Churchman Missionary Magazine should be 
used. 

Grade IX. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hob- 
son. London Manual (Longmans). 

Grade X. Harden Hanual, Grade VL Story of the 
First Thirty Years of the Church of Christ, 

Grade XL Catechism: Prayer and Sacraments. Steven- 
son. London Manual (Longmans), 

Grade XII. Harden Hanual, Grade V. Story of the 
Ages before Christ. 

In following this series the order of the senior grades 
should be changed to the following: Grades IX., XII., X,, 
XL, or XIL, X,, IX., XL 



128 



APPENDIX C 
Training Children to Serve 

The Program of Christian Service in Christ Church, 
Chicago. Rev. Charles H. Young, Rector. 

A method of applying our religion. A record is kept of the 
activities of each class. Some one visits each class monthly to 
tell of the larger organization. Pupils are held responsible for 
the information given to the class either by talks or by lesson 
sheets. 



CLASS 


WORKING FOR 


FORM OP WORK 


Bible Class 
(young men) 


Visiting Nurses Ass'n 


Visiting Shut-ins 
Tearing bandages. 


Bible Class 
(young ladies) 


- 


<( 


Post Graduate 

Class 
(young ladies) 


<( 


<« 


Teachers' 
Training Class 


<( 


4« 


High School 
III 


Juvenile Protective 
Association 


Giving a play to raise 
money to help a girl or 
boy in school. 


High School 
III 


It 


« 



129 



TJie Children s Challenge to the Church 



CLASS 


WORKING FOB 


FORM OF WORK 


High School 
II 


Junior Auxiliary 


Organizing the society 
m Christ Church and 
carrying on its work. 


High School 
II 


<( 


<i 


High School 
I 


" 


<< 


High School 
II 


United Charities 
of Chicago 


Various kindnesses sug- 
gested by the charities' 
workers, sharing boys' 
magazines, etc. 


High School 

I 


II 


II 


Grade 8 


Chicago Home for the 
Friendless, 5059 Vin- 
cennes Ave. 


Making garments ac- 
cording to samples fur- 
nished. 


Grade 8 


<i 


Home-made games. 
Home-made candy. 


Grade 7 


S. Mary's Home for 
Children. 2822 West 
Jackson Blvd. 


Making scrap books. 
Sewing simple articles. 


Grade 7 


<< 


♦' 


Grade 7 


Chicago Home for Boys, 
1506 West Adams St. 


Home-made games. 
Home-made candy. 


Grade 6 


<< 


<« 


Grade 6 


Children's Hospital 
Work (St. Luke's) Cook 
County. 


Making surprise bags, 
dressing dolls, making 
bedroom slippers. 



130 



Appendix C 



CLASS 


WORKING FOR 


FORM OF WORK 


Grade 6 


M 


<i 



Teaching has value as it leads to action. Sunday School 
teaching put into action means the translation into the child's 
life the Truths he is being taught. This produces a life of 
willing, loving service toward God and God's children. 



CLASS 


WORKING FOR 


FORM OF WORK 


Grade V 


Woman's Auxiliary (el- 
ementary). (Sunshine 
Workers.) Foreign and 
Home Missions. 


Sewing — Housekeepers. 
Quilting for Providence 
Nursery. Screens. 


Grade V 


Foreign and Home Mis- 
sions. Assist Sunshine 
Workers. 


Carpenter Work. 

Screens. 

Quilting frames. 
Raising Money. 


Grade V 


<< 


<< 


Grade IV 


Woman's Auxiliary, 
(Sunshine Workers.) 
Foreign and Home Mis- 
sions. 


Sewing — Housekeepers. 
Quilting for Providence 
Nursery. Scrap Books 
for contagious patients. 
Alaska Missions. 


Grade IV 


Parish Missions. 
Diocesan Missions. 
Foreign Missions 


Raising money to buy 
materials, etc. Selling 
magazines, etc. Caring 
for Prayer Books and 
Hymnals. 


Grade IV 


- 


i< 


Grade III 


Woman's Auxiliary. 
Sunshine Workers. 
Foreign and Home Mis- 
sions. 


Sewing — Housekeepers. 
Scrap books for shut- 
ins, to send to Alaska. 



131 



The Children's Challenge to the Church 



CLASS 


WORKING FOR 


FORM OF WORK 


Grade III 


«« 


M 


Grade III 
Grade II 


Alaska Mission. 
Japanese Mission. 
Home Mission. 

Boys' Homes. 

Girls' Home, S. Mary's. 

Orphanage of Holy 

Child. 


Help some one child in 
each place. Parish ac- 
tivities — errands, circu- 
lating, etc. 

Raise money, or bring 
things to help some in- 
dividual child in the 
Home. 


Grade II 


<( 


<< 


Grade I 


Parish Missions. 

Sunday School. 

Home. 

St. David's. 


Ministering to the sick 
(flowers, etc.). Mail 
lessons to shut-ins. Cor- 
respondence school. 


Grade I 


4< 


« 


Kindergarten 


(t 


« 



133 



OCT 4 1912 



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